/ 



THE 



Itetent ^attitam ^cumu^i^iau ; 



A SKETCH 



OF ITS ORIGIN, HISTORY, LABORS FOR THE SICK AND 
WOUNDED OF THE WESTERN ARMIES, AND AID 
GIVEN TO FREEDMEN AND UNION REFU- 
GEES, WITH INCIDENTS OF 
HOSPITAL LIFE. 



}4pC. 



^^ b H. :^V(f'f^fKayYL^ 




ST. LOUIS: 

PUBLISHED FOR THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SAJflTARY EAIR. 

R. P. STUDLEY & f'O. 

]8(i4. 



.5 



CONTENTS 



C H A P T K !i I . 

Origin of Sanitary Commissions— JIow the "Western Commission came to be organized — 
The Early Battles in Missouri — Want of Preparation for taking care of the Wounded — 
Order of Maj. Gen. Fremont constituting a Sanitary Commission — Establishment of 
Milita]-y Hospitals in St. Louis— Hospital Cars fitted up on the Pacific R. R. — Voluntary 
Contributions from New England and the Xorthwesteru States— Loyal Sympathies and 
Patriotism of the AVomen of the Country— Incidents pp. 3 — ]'2 

C H A P T E K II. 

Change of Department Commanders in the West— Gen. Halleck— Large Increase of Troops- 
Hospitals fdled— New Hospitals opened— Prevalence of Measles, Pneumonia, Typhoid 
Fever and Diarrhea during the fall and winter of 1861-2— Large Arrivals and Distributions 
of Sanitary Stores — Inspection of Hospitals— Secretarysliip of the Commission — Medical 
Director, J. J. B. AVright— Deficiency of the Medical Supply Table— The Labors of the 
Loyal and Patriotic Women of St Louis in the Hospitals — The Employment of Female 
Xurses — Their Heroism and Self-sacrifice pp . 13 — 22 

CHAPTER III. 

The Battle of Fort Donelson— Activity of the Western Sanitary Commission— Steamers em- 
ployed to bring the AVounded. to the St. Louis Hospitals— A Delegation from the 
Commission and the Ladies' L'nion Aid Society return with a load of the Wounded — 
Attentions to the Sick— The first Suggestion of Hospital Steamers— The Western Sanitary 
Commission immediately acted on the Suggestion— The "City of Louisiana" fitted up 
for this Service— First trip to Island Xo. 10— Value and usefulness of Hospital Steamers 
proved by subsequent Experience— Assistant Surgeon General R. C. Wood— Great De- 
mand tor Surgeons and Xurses— James M. Barnard, S;sq., of Boston- Battle of Pea 
Ridge— Destitute Condition of the Sick and Wounded— The Hosijitals at Cassville— A. W. 
Plattenburg sent by' the Commission with Sanitary Stores— Interesting Account of his 
Journey and of the good accomplished by it— The Agency Continued— His Future Labors 
—Testimonials of his Usefulness— Heroism of Mrs. Phelps at Pea Ridge pp. 2.3—34 



II 

t H A P T i: I! I \ . 
Soldiers' Home Established at St. Louis — Prfiiiiiim- Aw.inled to the Stewards and Wani- 
iiiasters of the best Hospitals, and to the most Faithful Xiirses — The Battle of Pittsburg 
Landing — Large Xumber of Wounded — Additional Hospital Steamers furnished — Volun- 
teer Surgeons and Nurses — Additional Hospitals fitted up at St. Louis — Demand for 
Surgeons — ^Number of Sick and Wounded in the St. Louis Hospitals — Report of the Com- 
miRsiou pp. 35--43 

C H A P T E U V . 

Letter of the Commission to the Surgeon General — Scollay's Deodorizing Burial Case — 
Capture of Fort Pillo'«- and Memphis— Opening of the Mississippi River to Vicksburg— 
Fitting out of the Xaval Hospital Boat ' ' Red Rover' ' -Arrival of Gen. Curtis' Armj' at 
Helena— Its Destitute Condition— Sickness of the Army at Helena -Sanitarj" Depot Estab- 
lished thei-e— Overton Hospital at Memphis— Sick from the Army in Tennessee -Hospitals 
and Regiments Supplied -The Navy— Letter from Commodore Davis— An Earnest Appeal 
from the Commission —Generous Response from Xew Englaml pp. 49— .i9 

CHAPTER YI. 
Army of the Frontier — Agent sent to Springlield, Mo., with stores — Battles at Cross Hol- 
lows, Cane Hill, and Prairie Grove— Arrival of Rev. Mr. Xewell at Fayetteville with am- 
bulances and sanitary goods — His useful services — His death at a later period— Notice of 
his character— Flying hospitals— Additional hospitals at St. LouLs— The Marine, Jefferson 
Barracks, and Lawsou Hospitals — The diminishing per centage of deaths— The hopeful 
condition of the armies of the L'nion— The sympatliy of the people with the soldiers— Pros- 
pects of ultimate victory pp . 60 — 07 

CHAPTER VII. 

Gen. Sherman's first attack on Vlcksburgh — Works assaulted — Severe losses to the Union 
arms — Hospital steamers bi'ing the wounded to Memphis and St. Louis — Battle of Arkan- 
sas Post— More wounded brought to St. Louis — Delegation of the Ladies' Union Aid So- 
ciety of St. Louis — Iowa State agent- RL-newal of the expedition against Vicksburg, by 
Gen. Grant — Increased hospital accommodations required — Visit of Mr. Veatman to Gen. 
Grant's army — ^His letter — Benton Barracks hospital, St. Louis — Additional hospitals at 
Memphis — The floating hospital, "City of Alton," the '•Rutii," a:nl "Glasgow" — 
Second visit of Mr.. Yeatman to Gen. Grant's army — His report— Sanitary stores sent 
to Gen. Grant'sarmy — Fall of Vicksburg— Its untitled hei'oes pp. 03-79 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Soldiers' Honaes at Columbus, Ky., Memphis, Vicksburg, and Helena— Over l.JO.ODJ soldier 
guests entertained— Further account of the St. Louis hospitals— Whole number of patients 
treated— Number of deaths— Per centage of deaths— The military prisons at St. Louis and 
Alton, Illinois — Humane treatment of sick prisoners pp. 83-93 



CHAPTER IX. 

Sanitaiy stores seut to the army of Geii. Davidson, at Bloomflelil , Missouri — Part of them 
captured bj' Guerrillas— Narrow escape of the Agent — Stores sent to the army of General 
Steele, at Duvall's Bluff and Little Rock — Agency established at Little Rock — Acknow- 
ledgements — Stores sent to Fort Blunt, Cherokee Nation — Acknowledgment— Stores sent 
to colored troops at Miliken's Bend, Goodrich's Londing, and Vicksburg — Letters of 
Rev. Dr. Eliot and Mr. Yeatmau — Books and instruction furnished to colored troops at 
Benton BaiTacks — Letter from Colonel A. Watson Webber — Stores sent to Nashville and 
Murfreesboro, Tenn. — Agency at Huntsville, Ala. — Stores sent to the Naval Flotilla — 
Veteran Regiments entertained at St. Louis— Stores to the 33d Ills, infantry— Acknowledg- 
ment — Stores to Banks' army on Red River — Several important questions answered — Do 
the Soldiers get any of the Sanitary stores? — Illustration — Accountability of Agents — 
Hospitals, regiments, hospital steamers and gunboats supplied with Sanitary stores — List 
of Female Nurses who have proved their worth in the hospitals of St. Louis pp. 91 — 109 

CHAPTER X. 

The Freedmen of the Mississippi — First efforts for their relief at Helena — Miss Maria R. 
Mann— Mr. Yeatmau's visits to the freedmen, from Island No. 10, to Natchez— Chaplain 
II. D. Fisher detailed as an Agent of the Commission, to make an appeal for aid, in New 
England — Generous contributions I'eceived — Mr. Yeatman's Report — Condition of the 
freedmen — The subject presented to the attention of the Government —Mr. W . P. Mellen 
and Mr. Yeatman return to carry into effect an improved system of leasing the abandon- 
ed plantations, and of securing better wages to the laborers— Second visit to Washington — 
Military protection given — National and other Freedmen 's Relief Associations — Messrs. 
Marsh and Foster go to Vicksburg as agents — Teachers sent — Death of one of the num- 
ber — i,500 freedmen arrive with the return of Gen. Sherman's army from Meridian— Their 
condition — Aid given — Union refugees of the Mississippi Valley— Refugee Home at St . 
Louis— Refugees at Pilot Knob — Labors of Sup't. A. Wright — Refugee Home at Vicks- 
burg— School for refugee eliildren pp. 110- 128 

CHAPTER XI. 

Kesources of the Western Sanitary Commission — Appropriations by the Governor and Legis- 
lature of Missouri— Liberality ofSt. Louis— Donations from Massachusetts and Californi a 
—Gifts of the People — Contributions from the Women of the Loyal States— Distributions 
by the Commission— Number of Articles given— Estimated value one and a half millions 
of dollars— Expenses of the Commission for Salaries of Agents, Rents, and Distribu- 
tion of Stores less than one per cent.—Friendshij) of Major Generals Fremont, Halleck , 
Curtis, Schofleld, Rosecraus, Sherman, and Lieut. Gen. Grant for the Commission — 
Also, of Assistant Surgeon General Wood, Gen. Allen, Colonels Parsons, Myers, 
Haines, and Maj. Smith— Ladies' Union Aid Society of St. Louis -Its Work— Receipt s 
and Disbui-sements- Freedmen's Relief Society of St. Louis— Its Work— Receipts and 
Disbursements— Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair— Conclusion pp. 120— 1.3S 



THE 






CHAPTER I. 



Origin of Sanitary Commissions — How the Western Commission Came to be 
Organized — The early Battles in Missouri — Want or Preparation for 
taking care of the Wounded — Order of Maj. Gen. Fremont constituting a 
Sanitary Commission — Establishment of Military Hospitals in St. Louis — 
Hospital Cars fitted up on the Pacific R. R — Voluntary Contkibutions 
FROM New England and the North-Western States — Loyal, Sympathies and 
Patriotism of the Women of the Country — Incidents. 



The first organized attempt to mitigate the horrors of war, to pre- 
vent disease and save the lives of those engaged in military service, 
by sanitary measures and a more careful nursing- of the sick and 
wounded, was made by a commission appointed by the British Gov- 
ernment during the Crimean war, to inquire into the terrible mortality 
from disease that attended the British army at Sebastopol, and to apply 
the needed remedies. It was as a part of this great work that the 
heroic young Englishwoman, Florence Nightingale, with her army of 
nurses, went to the Crimea to care for the sick and wounded soldier, 
to minister in hospitals, and to alleviate suffering and pain, with a self- 
sacrifice and devotion that has made her name a household word, 
wherever the English language is spoken. In the armies of France the 
Sisters of Chai-ity had rendered similar services, and even ministered 
to the wounded on the battle field; but their labors were a work of 
religious charity and not an organized sanitary movement. 



The experience of armies having' shown thiit not less than live sol- 
diers die of disease to every one killed in battle, it became a problem, 
whether this immense loss could not be greatly diminished by sani- 
tary means, and the military strength of a people be proportionally 
increased by a greater economy of life, and the superior health, vigor, 
and aggressive power of its armies. To this consideration was also 
added the Christian duty of a people to minister to the comfort and 
health of men engaged in so iDcrilous a service, leaving their homes 
and families and kindred to encounter sickness, wounds, and death, 
for the sake of country and liberty. 

The result of the enquiries of the British Commission, and of the 
researches of medical science has clearly established the fact that the 
" efficiency of an army must ever depend upon the state of health of 
the corps which comj)ose it;" and that ''the history of war can no 
longer be confined to bare details of the plans of battles and the 
manoeuvres of armies," but that '' we must refer to other elements, 
and principally to the sanitary condition of troops as the causes of 
our victories, or the reasons for our disasters." * 

The idea of an organization of civilians to look after the health of 
the armies of the United States, on the breaking out of the present Avar, 
and to minister to the sick and wounded, when the great battles should 
be fought, which it was foreseen must be the inevitable results of the 
conflict, originated in the minds of humane and patriotic men, w ho had 
the welfare of the country, and its noble defenders, at heart, and took 
form in the summer and autumn of 1861, in the formation of the United 
States Sanitary Commission, with its centre of operations at Washing- 
ton, and of the "Western Sanitary Commission, with its field of service 
at St. Louis, and in the armies, the navy and the hospitals of the west. 

The noble labors of the U. S. Commission and its subordinate 

• The British Armyand Miss Nightingale. By Charles Shrimpton, M. D., late Surgeon 
Major in the French Army, London: Bailliere Brothers, 18G-t. Quoted in North American 
Review, April, 1864. 



branches having been ah-eady recorded in a vahiable history,* and 
in A^arious iiublications, it is projjosed in the present publication to 
give a sketcli of the Western Commission, its modes of operation, 
its agencies and labors in the western armies and hospitals, its inci- 
dental work for the Freedman and Union refugees, and its plans of 
usefulness for the future of the war. 

The organization of the Western Sanitary Commission was the 
result of circumstances growing out of the war in Missouri ; the 
necessity for it was both sudden and unexpected, and its earliest 
labors were entirely spontaneous and unpremeditated. The city of 
Saint Louis had become the Headquarters of the Military Depart- 
ment of the West. During the summer of 1861 the battles of 
Boonville, Dug Spring, Carthage, and Wilson's Creek, were fought in 
Missouri, the last on the 10th of August, twelve miles south of Spring- 
held, near the Fayetteville road. This was one of the most desperately 
fought engagements of the war, and the number of killed and 
wounded was very great. The wounded, numbering 721, were 
brought all the way from Springfield to Eolla in ambulances and 
army wagons, and thence by cars to Saint Louis, and so little 
preparation had then been made for such an event that there were 
not additional hospital accommodations for so many in the whole 
city. The "New House of Refuge Hospital," situated two miles 
south of St. Louis, had only been opened on the 6tli of the same 
month, by Medical Director De Camp, with Dr. Bailley in charge, 
two excellent and humane surgeons of the regular army, and was as 
yet unfinished and unprovided with the requisites of a good hospital. 
Its condition at the time is thus described in an article in the North 
American Review for April, 1804, entitled "Loyal Work in IMissouri." 
" It had neither stoves, nor bedsteads, nor beds, nor bedding, nor 
food, nor nurses, nor any thing prepared. The first hundred arrived 

*The United States Sanitary Commission, Boston; Little, Brown Company, 1863. 



6 

at iiig-ht. They had been brought in wagons a hundred and twenty 
miles, over a rough road, by hurried marches, sufiering for food 
and water, from Springtield to Rolla, and thence by rail to Saint 
Louis to tlie station on Fourteenth Street. There, having had 
nothing to eat for ten hours, they were jnit into furniture carts 
(much better than those instruments of torture called ambulances) 
and carried the remaining three miles. Bare walls, bare floors, and 
an empty kitchen received them ; but the kind-hearted surgeon. 
Bailie}', did all he could to make kindness take the place of good 
tare. He obtained from the neighbors cooked food for their supper, 
and lost no time in getting together the various means of comfort. 
The poor fellows were so shattered and travel-worn that they were 
thankful enough to get eatable food, with the hard boards to sleep 
upon, and no word of complaint did we ever hear one of them 
utter. In the course of the week three or four hundred more were 
brought in, the condition of things meanwhile rapidly improving ; 
but so great was the difliculty of obtaining anything that was 
wanted, that many of the badly wounded men lay there in the 
same unchanged garments in which they had b^en brought from the 
battle-field three weeks before. Every day, howcA'er, made things 
better, and by the end of a month from the first arrivals Dr. Bailley 
began to say that ' it was not yet what he called a good hospital, 
but that the men were all comfortable.' "" 

Arrivals of sick and wounded continued and other accommodations 
had to be obtained without delay. All the available wards of the 
Saint Louis Hospital, kept by the Sisters of Charity, and of the 
City Hospital were immediately taken and filled, and still there 
Avas need of more hospitals. The sad and neglected condition of 
those who were brought from Springfield excited the benevolent and 
patriotic sympathies of all who loved their country and its brave 
defenders. The wounds of many had not been dressed since their 
first dressing after the l)attle ; others were still suffering from 



unextractecl bullets and pieces of shell, and the hospitals were 
unprovided with the necessary hosjiital clothing- to substitute for 
the soiled clothing of the men, which in many instances were 
saturated with the blood of their wounds. 

It was at this juncture that the Western Sanitary Commission was 
suddenly called into existence, lliss D. L. Dix, the philanthropist, 
was then in Saint Louis, and in communication with the new Com- 
mander of the Department, Major General Fremont ; Mrs. Fremont 
was also deeply interested in every thing- relating- to the welfare 
of the sick and wounded soldier ; other j)ersons of humane and 
patriotic motives and sentiments were personally known to General 
Fremont, and the suggestion of a Sanitary Commission at Saint 
Louis, to be subordinate to and act in aid of the Medical Depart- 
ment, coming- from such sources, was favorably regarded and carried 
into immediate effect. An order was issued by him on the 5th 
of September, appointing the "Western Sanitary Commission, in which 
its duties and sphere of action were thus detined : 

"Its general object shall be to carry out, under the properly con- 
stituted military authorities, and in compliance with their orders, 
such sanitary regulations and i-eforms as the well-being of the soldiers 
demand. 

" Tliis Commission shall have authority — under the directions of 
the Ifedical Director — to select, fit up and funiish suitable building-s 
for Army and Brigade Hospitals, in such places and in such manner 
as circumstances require. It will attend to the selection and appoint- 
ment of women nurses, under the authority and by the direction 
of Miss D. L. Dix, General Superintendent of the JS'urses of Mili- 
tary Hospitals in the United States. It will co-operate with the 
surgeons of the several hospitals in providing male nurses, and in 
whatever manner practicable, and by their consent. It shall have 
authority to visit the different camps, to consult with the com- 
manding officers, and the colonels and other officers of the several 



regiments, with regard to the sanitary and general condition of the 
troops, and aid tlieni in providing proper means for tlic preserva- 
tion of health and prevention of sickness, by snpply of wholesome 
and well cooked food, by good systenis of drainage, and other 
practicable methods. It will obtain from the community at large 
such additional means of increasing the comfort and promoting the 
moral and social welfare of the men, in camp and hospital, as may 
be needed, and cannot be furnished by Government Regulations. 
It Avill, from time to time, report directly to the Commander-in-Chief 
of the Department the condition of the camps and hospitals, Avith 
such suggestions as can properly be made by a Sanitary Board. 

'' This Commission is not intended in any Avay to i)iterferc with 
the Medical Staff, or other otScers of the army, but to co-operate 
with them, and aid them in the discharge of their present arduous 
and extraordinary duties. It Avill be treated by all officers of the 
army, both regular and volunteer, in this Department, with the 
respect due to the humane and patriotic motives of the members, 
and to the authoiity of the Commander-in-Chief. 

'' This Sanitary Commission will, for the present, consist of James 
E. Yeatman, Esq.; C. S. Greeley, Esq.; J. B. Jolmson, M. D.; 
George Partridge, Esq., and the Rev. Wm. G. Eliot, D. D." 

As soon as this order was issued the gentlemen named in it, 
acting as a Sanitary Commission, commenced their labors in coii- 
nection with the Medical Department. Their first important Avork 
Avas the fitting up of a ncAV hospital sufficiently large to accommodate 
at least five hundred patients. Negotiations Avere opened for renting 
the large five story marble-fronted building, corner of Fifth and 
Chesnut streets, Avhich was secured at a reasonable rent. Necessar}'- 
alterations Avere made, arrangements for bathing introduced, special 
diet-kitchens Avere fitted up, and the Avhole building furnished Avith 
beds and bedding. On the 10th of September it was opened for 
the reception of patients, under the charge of Surgeon John T. 



9 

llodgen, U. S. V., with a competent corps of Assistant 8nrgeons, 
apothecary, steward, ward masters, nurses, &c., under the title of 
tlie ''City General Hospital.'' 

It was rapidly filled with patients and continued as a military 
hospital until the autumn of 18GB, under the charge of Dr. Hodgen, 
Avhose able and faithful scr\dces and great surgical skill were fully 
recognized and appreciated b}' the Medical Department and by the 
Western Sanitary Commission, Avith whom his relations have always 
been most intimate, and Avhose members have ever found in him 
a willing co-worker and friend. 

Being located in a central part of the city, convenient to the 
rail road depots and the river, it was the place of reception of 
nearly all the severely wounded and the hopelessly sick on their 
ari'ival, for which reasons its per centage of deaths was large, being 
lik for a period of nearly two years ; but it was one of the best 
conducted and well managed hospitals in the west. 

It Avas in this building the Western Sanitary Commission com- 
menced its useful and arduous labors, having its office in a small 
room at the left of the entrance, in the second story, and a store 
room for sanitary goods in the basement, its members meeting every 
day for consultation and action; its President, Jas. E. Yeatman, giv- 
ing his whole time to the Avork, and having only one man to act 
as store keeper, porter and clerk, at the small salary of thirty dollars 
a month ; and yet the work went on, each member of the Commis- 
sion lending a helping hand, boxes of sanitary stores arri^dng from 
New England, and from the various towns and cities of the West, 
prepared and forwarded by the Avilling hands of the wives and 
mothers and daughtei-s of the land, and being distributed as needed 
to the hospitals and camps, and regiments in and around St. Louis, 
and at more distant posts in the interior of the State. 

From September 12th to September 21st, occurred the seige, the bat- 
tle, and surrender of Lexington, Mo., Avhich threw some three hundred 



10 

more Avouiided men upon the hospitals of St. Louis. During- the two 
mouths in Avhicli these CA^ents happened, besides the hospitals already 
named, live more were added, the Good Samaritau, the Fourth Street 
or Eliot Hospital, the Pacific, the Post and the Convalescent Hospitals 
at Benton Barracks. 

During- the month of October, Maj. Gen. Fremont took the field in 
person, with an army of twenty thousand troops, and went in pursuit 
of the rebel Gen. Price, who had retreated from Lexington. This 
pui'suit was continued to Springfield, Mo., under forced marches, and 
on Gen. Fremont's removal from the command, ISToA^ember 5th, the 
army was ordered back again by the new commander, Maj. Gen. Hun- 
ter. By this long and toilsome march and counter march, many of the 
troops were broken down, and were transferred to the hospitals. 

One of the last acts that Gen. Fremont performed, on leaving St 
Louis on this expedition, was an order, alike creditable to liis judg- 
ment and his humanitj^, directed to the Western Sanitary Commission, 
to fit up two hospital cars on the Pacific Railroad, with berths, nurses, 
cooking arrangements, etc., for the transportation of the sick and 
wounded, which was done. These were probably the first hospital 
cars prepared and furnished as such in the United States, and for 
several months they proAcd exceedingly useful. 

Through all these exciting months the members of the "Western Sani- 
tary Commission continued their voluntary labors without abatement, 
and the fitting up of all these hospitals was left mainly to them by the 
then acting Medical Director. As sanitary stores were needed, appeals 
were made through the newspapers and generously responded to by 
the people of St. Louis. Gradually the work of the Commission be- 
came more widely known ; some of its members having a large acquain- 
tance in New England, an interest was excited there, and contributions 
of hospital clothing, bandages, lint, dried and canned fruits, jellies and 
other delicacies for the sick, began to arrive from that source, and from 
Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, and other Western States. From 



11 

the priucii^al cities and towns of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and 
Rhode Island; from Boston, Providence and Portsmouth; from Salem, 
New Bedford, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Cambridgeport, 
Eoxbury, Newton, and many other towns, boxes came filled with new 
blankets, sheets, comforters, pillows, towels, socks, mittens, bandages, 
lint, and many little articles of convenience for the soldier's private 
use, such as needle books, pin cushions, handkerchiefs, games for 
amusement, little boxes of salve for sores and wounds, all showing 
the thoughtful symiiathy and affection of the noble women of the 
country for those who had taken up arms to vindicate the majesty oi 
the Government against a most unholy rebellion — a cause in which 
their own fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons had enlisted that they 
might preserve the institutions of liberty to themselves and coming 
generations. 

It was an interesting spectacle to see these boxes opened in the store 
rooms of the Commission, and on examination to find in the socks and 
mittens (of wliich there were many thousand pairs, in anticipation 
of the needs of the winter,) tracts and manuscript letters, full of words 
of advice, encouragement and sympathy. Sometimes there wruld be 
found in the toe of a sock a letter addi-essed, " To the soldier who shall 
Avear these socks : Be of good cheer ! may these socks keep your feet 
warm, while you stand on your post, or march on to battle and 
■\dctory!" ''May the rebellion soon be subdued, and you have the 
satisfaction of having aided in the glorious work." Sometimes quite 
lengthy epistles would be folded up in these presents, with the names 
and address of the writers given, and we have known some very 
pleasant correspondence to follow from these friendly missives to the 
soldiers. In one instance a i)ocket bible Avas contained among the 
sanitary stores, having the name and address of the giver, and was 
given to an iutelligeut and faithful soldier at Eolla, who wrote the lady 
an acknowledgment of the gift, and a very interesting and profitable 
correspondence resulted. 



12 

Sometimes tliese presents would contain a slip of paper, on whieli 
would be written, '"Knit by a little girl, eight years of age," and some- 
times another would be written, " Knit by E F , aged seventy- 
six years,'' showing that from childhood to age the women of the 
country, were heart and hand with their country's defenders, in the 
war for the i)reservation of the Union. 

From the ]S^orthwestern States contributions also came in freely, 
especially from AYisconsin, Avhere the Rev. H. A. Eeid, and his Avife, 
devoted themselves, with a truly Christian zeal, to the work of soliciting 
supplies. Illinois and Iowa, and Michigan also did their part nobly, 
and a few gifts were sent from Ohio, though the contributions from 
that State went mostly to the U. S. Sanitary Commission. The sup- 
[)lies sent from these Western States were largely of canned and dried 
fruits, jellies, butter, etc., for the use of the sick. In this connection the 
City of Madison, and all the smaller towns in "Wisconsin, the cities of 
Chicago, Quincy, Alton, Peoria, and the smaller towns in Illinois; the 
cities of Detroit, Ypsilanti, Marshall, Battle Creek, and other places 
in Michigan, the cities of Davenport, Dubuque, Keokuk, and the towns 
of Iowa will be long and gratefull}' remembered. 



CHAPTER II. 

Change of Department Commandeks in the West— General Hallegk— Large 

INCREASE OF TROOPS-IIOSPITALS FILLED— NeW HOSPITALS OPENED— PRE VALENCE 

OF Measles, Pneumonia, Typhoid Fever and Diarrhea during the Pall 
AND Winter of 1801-2— Large Arrivals and Distributions of Sanitary Stores 
—Inspection of Hospitals— Secretaryship of the Commission— Medical Di- 
rector, J. J. B. Wright— Deficiency of the Medical Supply Table— The 
Labors of the Loyal and Patriotic AVomen of St. Louis in the Hospitals 
—The Employment of Female Nurses— Their Heroism and Self-Sacrifice. 



On the removal of Maj. Gen. Fremont, his successor continued in 
command but sixteen days, when he was superseded by the appoint- 
ment of Maj. Gen. Halleck on the 21st of November. The business 
of recruiting-, which had suffered on account of these changes, was 
now revived and carried forward successfully, until there were en- 
camped at Benton Barracks, during the months of December and 
January, 1861-'62, over twenty thousand troops, infantry, cavalry, and 
artillery, from nearly all the Western States. The extensive grounds 
and barracks prepared by General Fremont Avere entirely occupied, 
and the work of military instruction went forward Avith zeal and 
energy. 

The presence of so many troops in one great encampment, the 
croAvded condition of the barracks, the inexperience of the soldiers in 
their first encounter with exposure and hardship, the inclemency of 
the winter months, and the inability of the department to do all that 
was required, occasioned a large amount of sickness among the dif- 
ferent regiments. The most prevalent diseases were measles, pneu- 
monia, typhoid fever, and diarrhea. In one instance, it happened that 
three hundred, in a single regiment of cavalry, were sick, mostly 
taken down with measles. In another, the surgeon reported one 
thousand out of thirteen hundred men, sufferiug from coughs and 



14 

colds. The barracks beiug rough buildings, with many open cracks, 
and floors without any space beneath, were far from comfortable, and 
the regimental hospitals were not well warmed, nor kept at an even 
temj)erature, nor i)roperly ventilated. The consequence was that many 
of the measle patients were afterAvards attacked with pneumonia, and 
died. The small-pox also broke out, and the hospital established on 
Duncan's Island, (opposite the arsenal, in the Mississippi river,) for 
tliis class of patients, was filled and required additional accommoda- 
tions. 

During the months of December and January, the number of sick 
and wounded in all the hospitals of Saint Louis and vicinity had 
reached over 2,000, and the labors of the Sanitary Commission were 
greatly increased. Meetings were held every few days; frequent 
inspections were made of all tlie hospitals and camps ; reports were 
Ijrepared and submitted to the commanding general; improvements 
were introduced; and supplies were forwarded wherever needed. 

Besides the hospitals and camps in and around Saint Louis, there 
were large bodies of troops at Rolla, the terminus of the south-west 
branch of the Pacific railroad, a point of great strategic importance, 
and at Tipton and Sedalia, two other important points, and at Ironton, 
the southern terminus of the Iron Mountain railroad, and at Jefterson 
City, the cai^ital of the State, where they were encamped for the winter. 
At these places there was a large amount of sickness and great mor- 
tality. The tents and huts in which the soldiers had gone into win 
ter quarters, were poorly ventilated ; the hospitals were generally log 
buildings, very much crowded, badly ventilated, and yet allowing the 
entrance of draughts of cold air, having also bad floors, through which 
the dampness ascended from the ground. The soldiers were not yet in- 
ured to hardship, and wei'C inexj)erienccd in taking proper care of 
themselves, and in attending to sanitary and police regulations, and 
the consequence was a melancholy state of disease and death at 
those military posts. The writer of this sketch has a sad remem- 



15 

brauce of the new-made graves at Eolla, wliicli he fouucl there in the 
spring of 1862, where so many of the Iowa, and Illinois and Missouri 
troops spent the fall and early i)art of winter before they went on 
their victorious march, under General Curtis, through Springfield to 
Pea Eldge, recovering the ground relinquished by Gen. Hunter, after 
the removal of Fremont, and driving the rebels from Missouri beyond 
the Boston Mountains. 

But before tliis march was undertaken, and while the troops lay 
in their winter encampments, the demands for sanitary stores were 
incessant, and the supply was always equal to the emergency. From 
regimental surgeons there was a constant application for additional 
medicines beyond the allowance afforded by the Medical Depart- 
ment. The old medical supply table was found u.tterly inadequate 
to the emergency. Expectorants and other important remedies were 
in constant demand, and large additions were furnished by the 
Sanitary Commission. The request was equally urgent for hosj)ital 
clothing and delicate food for the sick. Lai'ge issues were made 
of blankets, sheets, pillows, pillow slips, comforters, slippers, socks, 
wrappers, shirts, drawers, bandages, lint, and supplies of farina, jellies, 
canned and dried fruits, stimulants, &c. Surgeons came into the 
Sanitary Rooms pei-sonally to present their requests, and voluntary 
agents from Rolla, Jefferson City, Tipton, Sedalia, and Ironton al so 
came, and represented the condition of the hospitals at those posts, 
to all of which liberal responses were made, goods forwarded, visits 
made in person by the President and members of the Commission, 
and members of the Ladies' Union Aid Society, and every thing 
done that was possible to alleviate sviffei'ing and diminish disease. 

In these labors the Western Commission received the hearty and 
cordial support of Major General Halleck, the new commander of the 
Western Department, and was often favored with the presence at 
its meetings of liis Cliief of Staff, Brigadier General George W. 
Cullum, U. S. A., whose experience and excellent suggestions were 
of great value. 



16 

Up to this period, January, 18G2, the Coniinissiou had received 
over five hundred and twenty-five boxes of goods, and distributed 
over fifteen thousand articles, consisting- of hospital clothing, and 
delicate preparations of food for the sick, besides aiding' to furnish 
many of the g-eneral hospitals and sui)plying' tlio deficiencies of 
medicine to the regiments. 

The work of the Commission during the months of December 
and January had consisted lai'gely in the visitation and inspection of 
the camps and hospitals in and around Saint Louis, in efforts for 
their improvement, in the reception and distribution of sanitary 
stores, in the employment of female nurses, and in correspondence 
with the military authorities and the friends of the Union cause 
in different parts of the country. 

In the enlargement of its work it became necessary to procure 
additional store room for goods, and to employ a Secretary. For a 
period of three months this position was filled by Rev. J. G. For- 
man, of Alton, 111., who resigned it to enter upon his duties as 
Chaplain of the 3d Missouri volunteers, and Mr. L. B. Ripley suc- 
ceeded him for several months, when he also resigned and became 
the Quartermaster of the 33d Missouri volunteers. In May, 18C3, 
Rev. Mr. Forman again became permanently Secretary of the Com- 
mission. 

In February, 18G2, the small room in the Fifth Street Hospital 
was vacated for the larger rooms, No. 10, North Fifth Street, still 
occupied bj^ the Commission. 

In the month of December the excellent Medical Director, Sur- 
geon De Cami^, with Avhom the (Commission had labored in estab- 
lishing and fitting up the new military hospitals, was superseded 
by Dr. J. J. B. AVright, U. S. A., and it was some time before 
the relations of the Commission became entirely harmonious Avith 
this officer. Like many of the old army surgeons he was sensi- 
tive of any imaginary interference with the Medical Department, 



17 

considered it fully competent to manage every tiling relating to the 
health of the army, and had an evident dislike of sanitary commis- 
sions, and a disposition to decline all aid from this source. He 
Avas in the habit of remarking that the old army had never re- 
ceived any such assistance, and that he saw no reason why the 
volunteers should have this partiality shown to them. But the 
Sanitary Commission showed no partialities, and all soldiers of the 
United States, whether regulars or volunteers, were treated by it 
precisely alike. The prejudice existing in the minds of the surgeons 
of the regular army towards the Sanitary Commissions and the 
surgeons of the volunteer forces has been frequently manifested, and 
is to be greatly deplored, preventing harmony of action and result- 
ing in much injury to the service. 

In the present instance there was great complaint from the surgeons 
of the volunteer regiments of the deticiency of the medical supply table, 
and constant applications were made to the Commission for additional 
medicines. The regimental surgeons stated that they could not get 
tlieir requisitions answered at the medical purveyor's oflBce ; that the 
articles they most needed were stricken off, the quantities reduced 
in others, and that their patients could not be properly treated and 
were dying for want of proper medicines. The difficulty was repre- 
sented to Maj. Gen. Halleck by the Commission, and he issued an 
order on the Medical Department to increase its allowances, which 
order the Medical Director refused to comply with. The matter was 
referred by Gen. Halleck to "Washington, and the result was that in 
the end the medical supply table for regiments in the field was con- 
siderably enlarged. The relations of the Commission afterwards 
became more harmonious Avith Medical Director AYright, as he found 
its sen'ices to be really useful and necessary; but, although invited, he 
never attended its meetings, and always maintained a distant and 
merely official intercourse with its members. 

While the Commission was thus engaged the loyal and patriotic 

B 



18 

women of the city Avere not less active, in works of love for the sick 
aud wounded, and in expressions of encouragement and sympathy for 
the soldiers in the field. In them the Commission found most ener- 
g-etic and faithful co-woi'kers. At the rooms of the Ladies' Union Aid 
and of tlie Fremont Relief Societies, they met dally aud cut out hospital 
garments, employed sewing machines in the making of them, gave 
occupation and assistance to soldiers" wives and families, received 
and distributed sanitary stores, visited the sick, carrying with them 
delicatel)^ prepared food and cordials, good religioiis hooks, aud other 
reading matter to cheer and comfort them, conversed at their bedsides, 
gave them consolation and sympathy, and in many instances gave hope 
in Christ and confidence in God and heaven to the departing spirit. 
The labors thus cheerfully performed will not only find an honorable 
record on earth, but are already registered in heaA'en. 

It would be a grateful task to the writer to name many of those 
whom he often met in these visitations of mercy in the hospitals, but 
the fear of wounding by giving publicity to deeds that were not done 
to secure the world's applauses, and making omissions that would 
seem like an unjust discrimination, induces him to refrain from the 
attempt. Some of them were the wives of our best and most loyal 
citizens, persons of wealth, culture and refinement, who used to sit 
for liours by the bed-side of the sick and wounded, fixnning the 
fevered brow, reading from some good book, and speaking so hope- 
fully, that their gentle influence was always visible in its effects upon 
the countenances of those who were the objects of their tender soli- 
citude and care. In one instance, a youth, hardly yet more than a 
boy, who had been often visited, as his spirit was sinking away from 
earth, asked one of these goodly women to kiss him for his mother; 
and the farewell kiss was given, and the spirit of the boy departed, 
leaving the smile of peace on his fair young face, which his own 
dear mother could never kiss again. 

Among those who thus passed from room to room through the hos- 



10 

pitals, giving to one a testament, to another a soldier's prayer-book, 
to a third a vohime of pleasant reading, accompanied always by an 
exjjression of friendly interest and sympathy, two sisters from Phil- 
adelphia are warmly remembered, who came all the way to Saint 
Louis, and spent the winter in these holy ministries of love, whose 
names, like the true sisters of humanity of our own citj^, I leave un- 
mentioned here, feeling assured that they are all recorded in the 
Lamb's Book of Life, and Avritten on the tablet of many a soldier's 
heart. 

The following lines, Avritten by a private soldier, addressed to one 
who had thus ministered to him in sickness, are the fit expression of 
what was often conveyed in the pleased and grateful countenance 
of many a sick and dying soldier to the saintly souls of those who 
came to bless and comfort them in their hours of pain and lan- 
guishing : 

" From old Saint Paul 'till now, 

Of honorable women, not a few 

Have left their golden ease in love to do 

The saintly work which Christ-like hearts pursue. 

"And such an one art thou! God's fair apostle. 
Bearing His love in war's horrific train : 
Thy blessed feet follow its ghastly pain — 
And misery, and death, without disdain. 

" To one borne from the sullen battle's roar, 
Dearer the greeting of thy gentle eyes, 
"When he, aweary, torn and bleeding lies, 
Than all the glory that the victors prize I 

" When peace shall come, and homes shall smile again, 

A thousand soldier-hearts in northern climes. 

Shall tell their little children in their rhymes. 

Of the sweet saints who blessed the old war times." 



2ii 

The employment of female nurses, and their assignment to duty in 
the hospitals, was another impoi'taut service rendered by the Presi- 
dent of the commission — a delicate trust— and one attended with 
many difficulties. The example of Florence Nightingale and her corps 
of female nurses in the Crimea, and the patriotic sympathies of the 
women of America with their brothers in arms, led larg-e numbers of 
them to offer themselves for this service. The natural superiority of 
women, as nurses, was felt by all, and the government, therefore, 
determined to make room for a certain proi^ortion of female nurses 
in the hospitals. ISIiss D. L. Dix, a lady widely and favorably known 
by her humanitary labors for prisoners and the insane, was appointed 
" Superintendent of Women Nurses," to determine upon their qualifi- 
cations, and grant certificates; and only those who had received such 
certificates, either from her or her ag-ents, were to be employed by 
the surgeons in charge of general hospitals. The President of the 
Western Sanitary Commission was made the agent of Miss Dix for the 
Western Department, and on him the duty devolved of receiving all 
applications for this branch of tlie service, determining the qualifica- 
tions of the applicants, granting the certificates of appointment, and 
assigning them to duty in the hospitals, on the request of the sui*- 
geons in charge for the number required. 

The qualifications of women nurses were, that the applicants should 
])(i of suitable age, (from 25 to 50 years,) that they should be per- 
sons in good health, with sound constitutions, capable of bearing 
fatigue; that they sliould be free from levity and frivolity, of an 
earnest but cheerful spirit; that they should dress in jjlain colors, 
and in a manner convenient for their work; that they should be per- 
sons of good education ; and, that they should be recommended b>' 
at least two responsible persons, (their clergyman and physician being- 
preferred,) as to their fitness for this service. 

At a later period Surgeon General Wm. A. Hammond issued an order 
regulating the number of women nurses to be employed in the general 



21 

hospitals to one for every twenty beds, afterwards modified to one for 
every thirty beds, and i-equiring- that no nnrses should be employed with- 
out the certificate of Miss Dix, or her agents, except on emergencies. 

Under these regulations a large number of women nurses were 
employed in the hospitals of the Western Department, and were 
allowed a compensation of $12 per month and transportation from 
their place of residence, and to it again on their being relieved 
from duty, with quarters and a ration (or board) in the hospitals. 
The full number allowed was seldom called for by the surgeons, 
and in some of the more distant hospitals the regulations were 
not always complied with, the surgeons in charge often employing 
persons selected by themselves, and not always such as would have 
been approved. This practice has recently been prevented by an 
order from the War Department, prohibiting the payment of all who 
have not received the proper certificates of approval from Miss 
Dix, or from those acting with her au^thority. 

The nurses commissioned by the President of the "Western Sanitary 
Commission have generally been such as to do honor to the service, 
and by their devotion to the sick and wounded soldier, their attention 
to his diet, their oversight of his welfare, their watchings by His bed- 
side, their kindly presence and cheei"ing influence, they have often 
turned the balance when poised between life and death, and saved 
many a soldier and hero to his country and his friends. 

The number employed in the hospitals of the AYestern Depart- 
ment up to the present date, ( May, 1864, ) holding their certificates 
from the President of the Western Commission, is two hundred and 
seventv-three.* A few instances of unworthiness have occurred, and 



* In giving this account of women nurses it is proper to state that an order was issued 
IVom the Medical Department in October, 1803, directing that certificates should be granted 
to those nurses who had been for some time in the service, on the recommendation of the 
surgeons in charge. Under this order about one hundred certificates were sent by mail in 
answer to such recommendations. It has been since ascertained that some of those for 
whom certificates were thus obtained were cooks and laundresses, the surgeons in these 
cases taking the responsibility as to tlie character of those whom they recommended. 



22 

.some have foiled to meet the requirements of the situation, but gen- 
erally they have been persons of intelligence, good education, and a 
credit to humanity, the noblest types " of good, heroic womanhood." 
Many of them have left homes of comfort and refinement, and the 
pleasant associations of honored friends and kindred, to engage in 
this work of self-sacrifice ; some have been closely related to the 
best and noblest families in the nation, and left all to minister in 
hospitals for the sake of those who have fought and bled in the 
sacred cause of human liberty. Others again, have laid down their 
lives in this holj^ service, dying of disease incurred in the infected 
air of the hospital, and passing onward with our departed heroes 
and martjTS to that higher life where the sounds of war and con- 
flict are hushed in eternal peace. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Battle of Fout Donelson — Activity of the Western Sanitary Commission 
— Steamers employed to bring the wounded to the Saint Louis Hospitals — 
A Delegation from the Commission and the Ladies' Union Aid Society 

RETURN with A LOAD OF THE AVOUNDED — ATTENTIONS TO THE SiCK — THE FIRST 
SUGGESTION OF HOSPITAL STEAMERS — TlIE AVeSTERN SaNITARY COMMISSION LMME- 
DIATELY ACTED ON THE SUGGESTION — ThE " CITY OF LOUISIANA" FITTED UP FOR. 

THIS SERVICE — First trip to Island \o. 10— Value and Usefulness of Hospital 
Steamers proved by Subsequent Experience — Assistant Surgeon-General R. 
C. Wood — Great Demand for Surgeons and Nurses — James M. Barnard, Esq., 
of Boston — Battle of Pe.\ Ridge — Destitute condition of the Sick and 
Wounded — The Hospitals at C.\ssville — A. W. Plattenburg sent by the 
CoM.MissiON with Sanitary Stores — Interesting Account of his Journey and 
of the Good Accojiplished by it — The Agency Continued — His Future Labors 
— Testimonials of his Usefulness — Heroism of 3Irs. Phelps at Pe.\ Ridge. 



On the 13th, 14th, and loth of February, 1862, was fought the 
battle of Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland Eiver in West Ten- 
nessee, in Avhich the United States forces under General U. S. 
Grant, Avere victorious, compelling" the surrender of the Fort, and 
taking 10,000 prisoners of war under the rebel Brig^. Gen. S. B. 
Buckner. In this battle there were 231 killed and 1,007 wounded 
of the Confederate forces, and the loss on our own side was much 
greater, as the rebels fought within their entrenchments and our 
troops in the open field, where for three nights they lay upon the 
bare ground in a driving storm of snow and sleet, and renewed 
the battle from day to day, till victory crowned their arms. 

On the news of this battle reaching' St. Louis the "Western Sani- 
tary Commission made every preparation to assist the Medical 
Department in the care of the sick and wounded. A member of 
the Commission, accompanied by a delegation of physicians, nurses, 
and members of the Ladies' Union Aid Society, and by Surgeon J. 
H. Grove, U. S. V., proceeded immediately to Cairo by rail, and 
thence bv steamer to Paducah, Ky., at the mouth of the Cumbei-- 



24 

land river, with sanitary stores, to whicli place the wounded had 
been brought, where they were most courteously received by Medi- 
cal Director Simmons, who placed the steamer '^ Ben FrauTclin" at 
their service, and ordered a load of the Avounded to be put in their 
charge to bring to St. Louis. 

While the boat was being" made ready, the ladies of the delega- 
tion Aveut on board the various steamers at the landing and gave 
tlieir kind attentions to the wouuded, assisting to Avash them, and 
to promote their comfort in CA'ery possible AA'ay. 

The following account of the return ti'ip is from the report made 
to the Commission at the time: ''Furnished with the order of 
the Medical Director Ave Aisited the A^arious hospitals in Paducah, 
and selected as many of the AA^oundod as Ave could safeh^ and com- 
fortably transport to St. Louis. It required tAventy-four hours to 
get 155 patients on board. 

''As soon as we got under Avay, tlie ladies set to Avork to Avash and 
cleanse, and comb the hair of the sick and wounded. "NYarm water, 
soap, sponge, and flesh brushes were brought in requisition. Xot only 
the thee and neck, but the hands and feet, and otiier parts of the body 
had to undergo this purifying process. After this, the surgeons, Drs. 
Grove, Alleyne, and myself, proceeded to dress the wounds and other 
severe injuries of our patients, in AAiiich again we were materially 
aided by the ladies and gentlemen of our delegation. This process 
required from three to four hours dail}-. 

" The following was the daily routine: Early in tlie morning the ladies 
attended to the ablutions and cleansing of the patients. Breakfast Avas 
then served them, after which, a cai'eful surgical and medical examina- 
tion Avas gone throngh. Then came dinner, when they Avere Avaited on 
by all on board Avho could be spared from duty. After dinner, tliey 
Avere read to, and entertained by conversation. At supper again they 
had the attentions of all on board. After Avhicli Ave had singing of 
sacred or national hymns, reading the Scriptures, and prayer." 



On an-iviug- at St. Louis tlie wounded were at once taken in charge 
by medical officers, acting under the Medical Director, and transferred 
to the various hospitals. 

From this time, general hospitals were established at Paducah and 
Mound City, and the Western Commission directed a portion of its 
supplies to those points, and many sanitary stores were also sent 
directly from the towns and cities of Illinois, accompanied by friends 
and relatives, and other humane persons, who went to tender their 
services as nurses, or in any capacity in which they could be useful. 

It was during- the trip of the St. Louis Sanitary delegation to Padu- 
cah, that the idea of hospital steamers was suggested by Dr. Simmons, 
the Medical Director, and embodied in the report to the Western Com- 
mission. He thought it would be wise to procure several good sized 
steamers and to fit them up as floating hospitals, proi^erly organized 
with a chief surgeon, assistant surgeons, stewards, nurses, medical and 
sanitary stoi'es, to accompany the progress of our arms along the west- 
ern rivers, and to be always ready to receive the sick and wounded, 
on the occurrence of great battles, and convey them to the general 
hospitals, already iirovided larther north. The trip of the "i?eM. 
FrmiJcUn" was itself a recommendation of the plan, and it was speedily 
acted upon by the Commission. 

At the same meeting at which the above report and suggestions Avcre 
made. Rev. Wm. G. Eliot, D.D., was requested to address a letter to 
Maj. Gen. Halleck, setting forth the proposed plan for one or more 
Floating Hospitals, pledging that the Commission, if the suggestion 
met with his approbation, would take the Avhole care and labor of 
carrying it into execution. 

^ The plan was highly approved by the General commanding, and an 
order was issued to the chief quartermaster to purchase a steamer 
suited to the purpose, who, in connection with the Commission, finally 
selected and chartered the " City of Louisiana.'' On the 20th of 
March she had been thoroughly furnished as a hospital boat, the Gov- 



26 

erument supplying her with beds aud commissary stores, and the 
Western Sanitary Commission comi)leting her outfit at an expense 
of $3000. In addition to this the Commission also provided the assis- 
tant surgeons, the apothecary, the male and female nurses, and fur- 
nished a full supply of sanitary stores. Her first trip was made to Island 
Xo. 10, to await the confiict there, but the place was taken at last by 
a flank movement of Gen. Pope on New Madrid, without loss of life, 
and there was no occasion for her service at that time. But it was 
not long till ample opportunity of usefulness occurred at Pittsburg 
Landing. On this first trip the President of the Western Sanitary 
Commission went also, sharing in the general expectation of a terrible 
battle at Island No. 10. 

After the battle of Pittsburg Landing this boat conveyed 3,389 
patients to northern hospitals, and was in the spring of 1863, purchased 
by the Government, remodeled for a permanent floating hospital, with 
accommodations for five hundred beds, and named the ''R. C. Wood," 
in honor of the Assistant Surgeon General of the L'nited States Army, 
who was the first of the leading surgeons of the regular army to give 
his sanction and approval to the plan of a Sanitary Commission, and 
has always given his influence, encouragement, and aid to its beneficent 
labors, counselled with its members, and carried into effect, in his 
department, CA^ery valuable suggestion it has made. 

The " R. C. WoocV' is a vessel of great speed, and of large dimen- 
sions. Her state rooms have been removed, and the whole upper deck 
made into one large ward, with abundant light admitted, and having 
excellent means of ventilation, with ample provision of bath rooms, 
hot and cold water, cooking apartments, nurses' rooms, medical dis- 
pensary, laundry, and many other conveniences. With all the requi- 
sites of a good hospital on shore, it has the advantage of the fresh 
breezes and currents of air that are common to the river; and in the 
heat of summer, by moving on the stream, a delightful ventilation and 
refreshing breeze are obtained, passing through the sick ward, and 



27 

cooling the fevered brows and pulses of the patients on board. Dur- 
ing- the summer of 1863 this boat made constant trips from the armj- 
at Vicksburg, bringing the wounded and sick to the St. Louis hos- 
pitals. During her first period of service she was in charge of Dr. 
AVagener, and is now in charge of .Surgeon Thomas F. Azpell, U. S. V. 
The great utility and valuable service of floating hospitals was soon 
established and led to the fitting out of several others by the Gov- 
ernment. 

During the month of February, 18G2, the AV^estern Commission dis- 
tributed 13,250 articles of hospital clothing, food for the sick, bottles 
of cordials and stimulants, packages of bandages and lint, crutches, 
back-rests for supporting the head and shoulders, si^lints, towels, ban- 
dages, socks, slipjjers, books, and packages of reading matter; and the 
labors of its members were constant and unceasing, frequently occu- 
pying the night as well as the day. 

The demand for nurses "was at this time very great. From the Mound 
City Hospital, near Cairo, 111., in charge of Surgeon E. C. Franklin, 
U. S. v., there was a request at one time for forty uuivses, of which 
only fourteen could be immediately sent. Several surgeons were pro- 
procured from Boston, Mass., to come out and enter the hospital ser- 
vice, in which the commission had the valuable aid and recommenda- 
tions of James M. Barnard, Esq., of that city, who has, in a thousand 
ways, assisted in its work, aided its contributions and given it his 
best influence and counsel. 

On the 7th and 8th of March, 1862, another great battle was fought 
at Pea Ridge, Ark., in which our forces under Maj. Gen. S. E. Cur- 
tis, were victoi'ious over a force of the enemy, three times our num- 
ber, commanded by Generals Van Dorn, Price, McCuUoch and Mcin- 
tosh. Our killed and wounded numbered one thousand; the loss of 
the enemy was still greater. The great distance of this battle-field 
from St. Louis, being tAvo hundred and fifty miles beyond Eolla, the 
terminus of the South-AYest Branch of the Pacific railroad, and the 



28 

roads being of the very Avorst description, tlu-oiigli a country only 
half-civilized, mountainous, without bridges, and without hotel accom- 
modations, stripped by the passage of armies of forage for teams 
and of food for men, subject to raids and murders by guerrilla bauds, 
it was utterly impossible to bring the wounded of Gen. Curtis' army 
to the hospitals of St. Louis. And what was still worse, the march 
through the south-west had been undertaken in the winter, over bad 
roads, with deficient transportation, and the medical department was 
most miserably proAaded with the means of taking care of so many 
wounded. The surgeons were without hospital clothing, without 
stimulants, so necessar)'^ in surgical operations, without bedding for 
the wounded, and their supply of medicines was exceedingly limited. 

The desperate character of the battle had suddenly thrown upon 
tlieir hands nearly a thousand badly wounded men, in a country thinly 
settled by a people living mostly in log houses, and having few of the 
necessaries of life. The court house at Cassville, and all the principal 
dwellings — there was not a church in the place — were filled, and 
many wounded were also housed in the same way at Keitsville, so 
that on approaching these villages every other dwelling seemed to be a 
hospital, having a red flag floating over it. 

In a few instances, wounded ofiicers were conveyed in ambulances 
all the way to Rolla, and taken home to their friends; and those of 
our brave troops who were less severely wounded were transported 
to Springfield, Mo., where the churches and public buildings were 
converted into hospitals for their use. Passing onward from Rolla to 
the Army of the South-west, soon after the battle, with the Lyon 
regiment, to reinforce Gen. Curtis, it was a painful scene to witness 
wounded men lying in the bottom of open wagons on beds of straw, 
jolted over the rough ground, on their way to friends living along 
tlie route; for among the regiments that fought most bravely and 
suffered most severely, was Phelps' Missouri six months volunteers, 
composed of the sons of loyal families, who had lived and suftered in 



29 

South-west Missouri from the persecutious of the rebels, many of 
them having" been driven to Rolla as a phice of refuge and enlisted 
there, and such of them as now were wounded were being conveyed 
to their own homes, or to Springfield, where better hospital accom- 
modations existed. In this city, as we marched thi-ough, we found 
the hospital buildings filled with the wounded from Pea Eidge ; and 
at Cassville, when we reached there, it was a touching sight to be- 
hold, as we did, in one room, a row of yoiing men, in the freshness 
of youth, lying on beds, each having lost a leg, while in other 
buildings were those who had received all manner of hurts, wounds 
from pieces of shell, bullet wounds, arms torn and afterwards ampu- 
tated, and legs taken ofi", and all bound up, awaiting the dreadful 
issue of life or death. 

But it was with peculiar satisfaction we found that the stores of 
the Western Sanitary Commission had been received there some days 
before our arrival, and that the wounded men were lying in clean 
beds, and clothed with shirts and drawers, instead of the blood- 
stained garments in which they came from the battle-field. The large 
supplies, forwarded by the commission, had reached the medical 
director. Dr. Otterson, and had been put to immediate use ; his sup- 
ply of stimulants had been largely increased, and his sick and 
wounded were in a comfortable condition. 

On the news of this battle I'eacliing St. Louis, the members of the 
Sanitar}^ Commission worked day and night, packing up sanitary 
stores, and sent forward Mr. A. ^Y. Plattenburg in charge of hospital 
supplies, on the 11th of March, who was followed immediately after 
by another supply of as many more. In tliis undertaking, Maj. Gen. 
Halleck furnished every facility in his power, giving to Mr. Platten- 
burg an order, over his own signature, addressed " to all quartermas- 
tei-s and other ofiicers between St. Louis and Sugar Creek, Ark.."' 
directing them " to furnish every reasonable facility in their poAver, 
to forward, u-ith all possible dispatch, consistent with safety, the 



30 

bearer, Mr. A, W. Platteul)urg-, and the hospital stores uuclerjiis care, 
destined for the wounded in tlie late battle at Sugar Spi"ings" — after- 
wards named Pea Ridg'e. 

In his report of his journey and arrival at Cassville with his 
stores Mr. Plattenburg- says : 

'' I arrived at Rolla, Mo., at four o'clock, r. m., of the same day 
and was furnished with a liorse and transportation for sanitary 
stores. The first day we i^roceeded fifteen miles over a road that 
was as bad as it could be. The day following- I rode forty miles 
and stopped at night with a TJniou man, who had been robbed of 
almost every tiling movable. lie had two sons in Phelps' ]Missouri 
regiment, one of whom had just died in the Springfield hos2:)ital. 
On Sunday morning I reached Si)ringfield at 10 a. .^r. The Quar- 
termaster was ordered to furnish transportation by the first train. 
The wounded from the recent battle were coming in, as well as 
some rebel prisoners. I visited the j)Ost hospital, accompanied by 
Dr. Ebert. There were one hundred sick and wounded, mostly 
from Pea Eidge. I examined the hospital Aery carefully ; found 
a i)art of the men on the floor, destitute of all comforts. They 
had neither bed sacks, blankets nor sheets, not even tin cups or a 
teapot. They were, however, A-ery cheerful. Dr. Ebert, a very 
kind and attentive surgeon, requested me to procure a wardmaster 
and matron. I made a requisition upon your Commission for them, 
as also for a large inimber of supplies f(^)r the hospital, enough to 
make all the patients as comfortable as possible. 

" The ti-ain Avith your stores reached Springfield on AVednesday 
following, and on Friday Avere sent forAA'ard, Transportation was 
so insufl[icient tliat this delay Avas unaA^oidable. The next day, 
2oth, I arrived at Cassville. Here I found two large tents, six 
buildings, ( among them the court house, ) and the taA^ern, used 
as hospitals. The patients were lying on the floors, AAith a little 
straw under them, and with knapsacks or blankets under their 



heads fox' pillows. They had iio comforts of any kind, uo change 
of clothes, but were lying in the clothes they fought in, stiif 
and dirty with blood and soil. There were four hundred federal 
wounded here. There was a great deficiency of nurses, detailed 
men not answering- the purpose well. Their sheets had been 
torn up for bandages, and until Dr. Otterson reached there with 
his supplies they were poorly furnished with medicines. Stimu- 
lants were very much needed to sustain the sinking men, but none 
were to be had. There were no brooms to sweep with and no 
mops to wash the rooms. Your stores were here turned over to 
the brigade surgeon, who ojiened and distributed them to the dif- 
ferent hospitals. Never was a provision train more joyously greeted 
by starving men than was this ample supply of hospital stores by 
these sick and suffering soldiers. 

'' On the next day I went foi-ward to the army, reporting my- 
self to Gen. Curtis, introduced by your letters. I found him in 
an ordinary tent, without furnitui-e, except a stool and a small cross- 
legged pine table. The floor was covered with straw, and a I'oll 
of blankets constituted his bedding. Being invited, I dined with 
him upon plain army fare. I then proceeded to Gen. Davis' posi- 
tion, within one and a half miles of Elk Horn Tavei-n, where the 
heaviest fighting was done. I visited the battle-ground, and was 
filled with astonishment when I saw the strength of the positions 
out of which our gallant little army had driven the great force 
opposed to it. Meeting two rebel surgeons one of them said : 
'We are Texans ; our ai*my has treated us shamefull}^ ; they stam- 
peded, aud left us here with our sick and wounded men, and, I 
will tell you, sir, that for two days we had nothing to give our 
poor fellows but parched corn and water. Every federal officer and 
man has ti'eated us like gentlemen, and Gen. Curtis told me that 
so long as he had a loaf of bread, we should have half it.' This 



32 

was tlie field where McCulloch and Mclntosli were killed while 
endeavoring- to flank the Peoria battery. 

•'I visited with these sui'geons the hospitals at Pineville. Xo 
provision whatever had been made by Price, and our scanty sup- 
plies had been shared with them. For twenty-five miles around 
every house was a rebel hospital. We also had three federal hospi- 
tals at Pineville, but not to exceed forty patients. At this point 
there was a total absence of stimulants, and men were dying' for 
want of them. In one place ai-e forty graves of the Iowa Thii'd 
Cavalry. All the dead of both armies were buried. 

" On my return I called on Gen. Curtis at Keitsville, and promised 
to urge forward the remaining- supplies, which would be sufl[icient 
to meet all immediate Avants. They were duly forwarded, and 
reached the command in good time. At Cassville I found that Dr. 
McGugin, of Iowa, who had been working very faithfully among 
our suffering men, was completely exhausted. At Springfield I 
found additional supplies, which had been forwarded by your com- 
mission. I was assured that they would go forward on the fol- 
lowing morning, and they were rolled out to load up before I left. 
T am fully convinced that no army Avas (so far as provision 
for the wounded was concerned.) ever sent into the field in such 
destitute condition as ours, except the one that it fought and con- 
quered. Our preparations were wholly inadequate ; the enemy had, 
apparently, made none at all. 

'•' The labors of your commission are most highly appreciated by 
both otRcers and men. But for the promptness with Avhich your 
supplies were sent forward, for Avliich you are greatly indebted to 
the Commanding General, great suftering must have unavoidably 
occurred. Could the kind and sympathizing men and Avomen ol 
our loyal States, Avho place these abundant contributions at your 
command, but sec and realize the thrill of joy Avith Avhich they 
were received by the suffering ones, who have so bravely and gladly 



33 

shed their blood to restore to us a united nation, and to vindicate 
tlie majesty of our tramjiled laws, tliey would rejoice that they 
had made the slight sacrifice required to achieve so great a good, 
and seek, I am sure, to enable yon to anticipate rather than to 
supplj', such wants in future. 

•'Many of these poor sufterers liave left distant homes and loving 
friends ; have been accustomed to receive the tenderest cares and 
the most watchful symj)athy during tlie slightest indisposition. IS'ow 
they meet death and grievous Avounds, and wasting sickness, in a 
remote, semi-hostile and thinly settled country, surrounded generally 
by comparative strangers. And this great sacrifice is most cheer- 
fully made. No word of repining or regret did I hear, but every- 
where our gallant men were sustained by an abiding faith that 
they had sulTered and Avould die, if need be, in a most just and 
righteous cause." 

Mr. Plattenburg's efiiciency and usefulness were so satisfactory to 
the commission, that he was employed from that time as an agent to 
continue with the Army of the South-west, which he did till the 
spring of 1863, accompanying it through all iis toilsome march from 
Cassville to Forsyth, returning to St. Louis for sanitary stores, going- 
back to it again overland, and arriving with it at Helena on the 
following Jul}'. 

In March, 1863, he proceeded to the vicinity of Alcksburg, with 
the army of Gen. Grant, remained there in charge of a sanitary 
boat loaded with stores, and, with his assistants, distributed to the 
army during the seige of Vicksburg, and after its capture, until the 
Fall of 1863, when he was sent to the Army of the Cumberland with 
Gen. Sherman's 15th army corps, and established an agency at Hunts- 
ville, Ala., remaining in charge of it till April, 18(54, when he re- 
signed his position to attend to interests of his own. During his 
two years of faithful service, he gained the esteem of the officers 
of the army, received many testimonials of his great efficiency and 
c 



34 

usefulness, and always enjoyed the full confidence and support of 
the Commission. 

In December, 1862, the surgeons of the Army of the South-west 
united in a testimonial in which they say: '-The agent of the 
Commission, Mr. A. ^Y. Plattenburg has always cheerfully furnished 
for the use of the sick and the wounded, every thing in his pos- 
session. Joining this army just after the battle of Pea Ridge, he 
came with his abundant stores most providentially, and through all 
dangers, trials, and vicissitudes he has remained constantly witli us, 
and ever faithful to his mission." 

In a letter of Maj. Gen. Curtis, dated March 1st, 1863, he says : 
"Among the pleasant and grateful recollections of the campaign 
of the South-west was the arrival of Mr. A. "NV. Plattenburg, the 
agent of this noble Commission, just after the battle of Pea Ridge 
(where the Avounded were so unprovided for), with his abundant 
sanitary stores and supplies of stimulants. In the destitute condi- 
tion of our hospitals it seemed like a providential interposition in 
our behalf." 

Among the incidents at the battle of Pea Ridge worthy of men- 
tion in this connection, Avere the labors of Mrs. Phelps, who had 
accompanied her husband. Col. John S. Phelps, with his regiment to 
the battle-field. AVhile the battle was yet raging, tliis heroic woman 
assisted in the care of the wounded ; tore up her own garments 
for bandages, dres.'ed their wounds, cooked food and made soup 
and broth for them to eat with her own hands, remaining with 
them as long as there was any thing she could do, and giving 
not only words but deeds of substantial kindness aud sympathy. 
And wherever the cause of our national Union and its perils shall 
hereafter be known, •' this that this woman hath done shall be re- 
membered as a memorial of her." 



CHAPTER IV . 

Soldiers Hojie Established at St. Louis — Premiums awarded to the Stewards 

AND WaRUMASTERS OF THE BEST HOSPITALS, AND TO THE MOST FAITHFUL NuRSES — 

The Battle of Pittsburg Landing— Large Number of Wounded— Additional 
Hospital Steamers Furnished — Volunteer Surgeons and Nurses — Additional 
Hospitals Fitted up at Saint Louis — Demand for Surgeons — Number of Sick 
AND Wounded in the St. Louis Hospitals— Report of the Commission. 



On the loth of March, 1862, a Soldier's Home for discharged and 
furloughed soldiers passing- through the city, was established by the 
Western Commission, at 29 South Fourth Street, St. Louis, capable 
of accommodating- from tifty to one hundred soldiers daily. It was 
placed in charge of Rev. Charles Peabody as Superintendent, with 
ISIiss A. L. Ostram for Matron, and has afforded many a poor, 
l^enniless, and invalid soldier food and lodgings, saved others from 
the shai'pers that lie in wait to impose on the unwary, from ex- 
orbitant hotel charges, and from the bad associations and influences 
of the lower class of hotels ; it has been an asylum to many who 
left the hospitals to go home, not yet fully recovered — some of 
them returning to their families to die — where on their way they 
could enjoy a few days of quiet rest, have the aid of the Super- 
intendent in getting their pay and bounty, and the kind attentions 
of the matron to nurse them and bind up their wounds. 

During the first year of its existence, the Soldiers' Home at St. 
Louis entertained with meals and lodgings, twelve thousand four 
hundred and ten (12,410) soldier guests, most of them invalids par- 
tially restored to health, passing on furlougli to their homes, or 
returning to their regiments. 

During its second year to March 12th, 18G4, it has entertained 
eight thousand four hundred and thirty-six (8, 433) enlisted mm, 



80 

making a total of twenty thousand eiglit hiiadred and forty-six 
(20,846) soldiers who have enjoyed the hospitality of this Home in 
a period of two years. And yet compared with four others after- 
wards established by the Commission at Cokimbus, Ky., Memphis, 
Tenn., Helena, Ai'k., and Vicksburg-, Mississippi, the average num- 
ber entertained has been much less than at those places. This lias 
been partly owing to its smaller accommodations and partly to its 
greater distance from the seat of war, as our ai-mies obtained pos- 
session of the States bordering on the Mississippi River. 

Of the 20,846 soldiers who have been the guests of this Home 
5,576 have been from Illinois, 4,615 from Iowa, 4,520 from Mis- 
souri, 1,795 from Wisconsin, 1,221 from Indiana, 420 from Michigan, 
668 from Ohio, 342 from Minnesota, 136 from Kentucky, 359 from 
Kansas, 82 from Arkansas, 64 from the Marine Brigade, 111 from 
the U. S. Regulars, 73 from Nebraska, 576 from other States, and 
288 from the Invalid Corps. 

The number of meals furnished to soldiers for the two years ending- 
March 12tli, 1864, was eighty-five thousand nine hundred and ninety- 
two (85,992), and the number of lodgings for the same period was 
twenty-four tliousand two hundred and ninety, (24,290). In no case 
lias any charge been made to any of the guests. Besides these, many 
near relatives, fathers, mothers, and wives of sick or furlouglied sol- 
diers, accompanying them, have received the liospitality of the Home, 
of wliich no account has been made. 

The expense incurred by the Commission in maintaining this institu- 
tion is about $3,000 a year, and the value of the rations and fuel fur- 
nished b\' the Government is about $2,000 more. 

The conduct of the soldiers while staying at the Home has generally 
been respectful, and such as would become good citizens. The hos- 
pitality and kind attention given have been almost uniformly received 
with gratitude. Many on leading have come to the office and expressed 
their thanks to the superintendent, and often, although informed that 



3Y 

every thing they had received Avas freely given, have insisted on 
bestowing something from their liard earnings to help sustain the 
institution. On being shown to their rooms at night it has been com- 
mon to hear such expressions as these: '' Oh, Jim, see here, this is a 
nice fat pillow, as sure as you are born, the first 1 have seen for six 
mouths," to which another would reply, '^ Yes, Sam, these are pillows, 
sure enough, and this is a clean soft bed. I tell you what, this makes 
me think of home.-'' 

On Thanksgiving and Christmas and New-Years days it has been 
customary to provide some fowls and other extras ; and at all times, 
butter, vegetables, milk, dried and canned fruits and tomatoes have 
been fui*nished, in addition to the army ration. Very often expressions 
are hoard at the table, or after meals, indicating the grateful appre- 
ciation of the soldier, who has been for months confined to hard bread, 
salt meat, and coffee, without milk, on finding so wholesome and 
palatable a change of diet. "Well," says one, "I haven't had so good 
a meal for two years." " Yes," answers another, " this is pretty good 
fare; if we could only have such all the time we'd get along first rate. 
But I expect Uncle Sam does the best he can for us. It's hard getting 
anytliing down among them Kebs. The sooner Ave can clean them 
out and come home the better." 

A reading room is provided at this as well as the other Homes, con- 
taining several hundred volumes, and the daily papers and several 
religious journals are also furnished, so that the soldier is able to pass 
Ms time pleasantly and profitably during his short stay. He is thus 
kept from a desire to roam through the city in search of amusement, 
and goes on his way refreshed in body and mind. 

In the winter of 1860, Miss Ostram, the first matron, after nearly 
a year of faithful service, was transferred to the Home at Memphis, 
and the situation remained vacant, for a considerable period, during 
which Mr. John Gibbon acted as clerk and steward, which position 
he filled with great fidelity. On his retiring, about six months ago, 



38 

it became necessary to fill the situation of matron, when Mrs. J. E. 
Kice, now pei'forming' the duties with satisfaction, was appointed, 

The institution has been conducted with eminent success by Mr. Pea- 
body, the Superintendent, who has shown g^reat executive ability in 
its management, whose courtesy and kindness to the soldier have given 
him a place in their grateful remembrance, and whose intercourse 
with the military authorities, and the members of the commission, has 
always been such as to win their esteem and confidence. 

In his last annual report to the Commission (March 12th, 18G4) Mr. 
Peabody very justly remarks upon the benefits to the countiy arising 
from sanitary labors, and from such institutions as the Soldiers' Home: 

*' Observing from the position I have occupied, the wrecks left 
behind the wake of armies, the conviction forces itself upon me 
that the labors of the Sanitary Commission, by the immense supple- 
mental aid it has rendered in furnishing sanitary supplies and estab- 
lishing Soldiers' Homes, have contributed not a little to saving men 
for the service, as well as rescuing them from death. Tn prosecuting 
their wars the ancients had no hospital trains or medical statTiu atten- 
dance on their armies. In their military movements the sick and 
wounded soldiers were left behind to die. In these times, and in our 
unhappy struggle with a giant rebellion, the soldiers are tenderly 
cai'ed for, not only by the medical department of the army, but by thou- 
sands of patriotic hands, working systematically, through thoroughly 
organized channels, which often reach far beyond the routine of the 
seiTice. The future liistorian of this great struggle Mill be able to 
show that the very small per cent of loss among our armies, as com- 
pared with that of modern European wars is to be attributed largely 
to what the people themselves have done through organized voluntary 
labors in behalf of the soldiers. 

" Having aided, under your auspices, in the organization of the 
Soldiers' Home, established in this city, and watched over it daily 
for two years, I cannot but express the conviction that for the amount 



39 

of money expended, this enterprise has brought back in substantial 
and lasting- beuetits to the soldiers quite as much as any of the noble 
undertakings in which your Commission has engaged. It has cheered 
the disheartened soldier in his toilsome duties. It has saved multitudes 
from imposition and exactions, and lias aided them in securing prompt 
attention to their just rights. By the substantial comforts and kind 
attentions which it has afforded it has served to impress on the minds 
of those who tight our battles the fact that their toils are remembered 
and their heroic etforts appreciated. Standing in the face of death on 
the bloody field the recollection of such kind hospitality and attention 
has served to strengthen their arms and exalt their courage in the 
deadly conflict. By lending a helping- hand to the weak and faltering 
as they return homewards from their exposures, it has served to assure 
their friends and the loyal public that the opinion, too current through 
the land, that the common soldier is always trod upon and abused, is 
a mistake. It has aftbrded kind nursing to hundreds of sick and suffer- 
ing, and by a little care and attention, has saved many valuable lives. 
It has also aftbrded the opportunity of impressing moral and religious 
truth on the minds of the soldiei-s, and of ministering consolation to 
some who were just entering iipon their last great conflict. In view 
of the good it has already accomplished, and its capacity for future 
usefulness to the soldiers and the service, it is warmly commended to 
your special consideration." 

In the early part of April, 1862, the "Western Sanitary Commission, 
wishing to encourage and stimulate a patriotic emulation among the 
stewards, ward masters, and nurses in the hospitals to excel in their 
several spheres of duty, and thereby promote the welfare of the sick 
and Avounded, by securing the best possible attention, and the most 
fiivorable conditions for recovery, oftei*ed a series of premiums as fol- 
lows, to be paid in gold on the 4th day of the following July : 

1. To the head steward of whichever one of the large hospitals 



40 

shall have been kept in the best condition, all things cousidered, and 
in wliich the comfort of the patients shall have been uniformly best 
cared for, in every way, through a term of three months, the sum of 

TWENTY-FIVE DOLLAKS. 

2. To the head steward of the best of tlie smaller hospitals, as above 
estimated, the sum of fifteen dollars. 

3. To the best assistant steward in every large hosi^ital, who shall 
be the most j)unctual, attentive and diligent in the performance of his 
duties, the sum of ten dollars. 

4. To the best assistant steward, estimated as above, in all the small 
hospitals, the sum ot eight dollars. 

5. To tlie best ward master in eacli of the large hospitals, whose 
ward shall have been uniformly kept in the best and most perfect 
order, as to cleanliness of beds and bedding, the comfort of the patients, 
and in all other respects, the sum of ten dollars. 

6. To the best ward master in each of the small hospitals, estimated 
as above, the sum of EicaiT dollars. 

7. To the best twenty nurses, in all the hospitals, who shall remain 
in service through the three months, and who shall prove themselves 
the most kind, faithful and attentive, in the discharge of all their 
duties to the sick, five dollars each. 

8. To the best culinary department, in all the hospitals — that is, for 
the best and cleanest kitchen, the best and most wholesome cookery, 
with the smallest waste, the sum of twenty-five dollars, the same 
to be divided between the head cook and assistants, in the hospital to 
Avhicli the prize shall be awarded, in such proportions as may seem just. 

!i. To the second best kitchen, etc., estimated as above, the sum of 
fifteen dollars. 

10. To every female nurse who shall remain in the service for thi'ce 
months, and shall have given full satisfaction, a certificate shall be 
awarded, with special A'ote of thanks. 



41 

11. To the best hospital, all tliiugs considered, a public expression 
of thanks shall be given, with the approval of the Medical Director 
and of the General commanding-. 

To secui-e the just award of these premiums and testimonials, the 
Sanitary Commission mil make weeklj^, or more frequent, visits of 
inspection to every hospital under direction of the Head Surgeon, and 
in consultation with him, and a careful record of each visit and its 
results will be kept. 

A monthl}' inspection will also be made, with the same view, by 
order of the General commanding-. 

In offering- these i)remiums, the ""Western Sanitary Commission" are 
actuated by a desire to assist the medical staff in making- the miUtaiy 
hospitals of the '' Department of the Mississippi," the most perfect in 
the United States. 

This undertaking- had the sanction of the Commanding- General of the 
Department, and of the Medical Director, and its influence was highly 
beneficial in stimulating the best endeavors of those who filled the 
stewardships in the hospitals, and had the immediate care of the sick 
and wounded — not so much for the sake of the pecuniary rewards 
as from the consciousness that their labors were carefully noticed and 
appreciated, which gave an additional sj)ur to their humane interest 
in the soldier, and excited a laudable and proper ambition to receive 
the award of well doing. 

The persons to whom these awards were finally made were as fol- 
lows : To Mr. George Thomas, chief steward of the Fifth Street Hos- 
pital, $2o ; to Mr. Kleuber, cliief steward of Camp Benton Hospital, 
$15 ; to Mr. Matthews, assistant steward in the Fifth Street Hospital, 
$10; to Messrs. James McCrea, George Miran, and Henry Craw- 
shaw, ward masters in the Fifth Street Hospital each $10; to Messrs. 
Loar, Henry Sanders, and James Larkin, nurses in the Fifth Street 
Hospital, and to Mr. Charles Tising, nurse in the Good Samaritan 
Hospital, $5; to the chief cook and assistants in the culinary depart- 



42 

meiit of the Kew House of Eefuge Hospital, $25; to the cliief cook 
and assistants in the culinary department of the Camp Benton Hos- 
pital, $15; and to the following female nurses, with certificates aud 
a vote of thanks, $5 each: Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Ballard, Mrs. Parker, 
Mrs. Gibson, Mrs. Aldrich, Mrs. Houghton, Mrs. Brooks, Mrs. Ferris, 
Mrs. Campbell, Mi's. Plummer, Miss McNair, Mrs. Colfax, Mrs. Bar- 
ton, Miss Johnson, Miss Clark, Miss Cullom, Miss Ostram, Mrs. Starr, 
Mrs. Freeman. 

On the 6th and 7th of April, 1862, occurred the great battle of 
Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee river, between the Union forces 
under General Grant, and the rebel forces under General A. S. John- 
son and General Beauregard. In this battle, the loss to the Union 
army was 1,735 killed, and 7,882 wounded; and to the rebels, 1,728 
killed, and 8,012 wounded, many of whom fell into our hands. 

The news of this terrible battle was brought to St. Louis by tele- 
graph, and Maj. Gen. Halleck immediately addressed a note to the 
Western Sanitary Commission, requesting its co-operation with the 
medical and quartermaster's departments in sending steamers, prop- 
erly fitted up, furnished with medical and sanitary supplies, and a 
requisite force of surgeons, wound-dressers and nurses to take care 
of the wounded, and return with them to St. Louis ; also in fitting 
up additional hospital accommodations in this city to receive them. 

The foUowiJig note was received from the Chief Quartermaster: 

Quartermaster's Depart.-ment, Office of Transportation, "i 

St. Louis, April 10th, 1862. J 

Jas. F>. Yeatmax, Esq., 

President Western Sanitary Commission: 

Dear Sir : I have arranged Avith the owners of the steamers 
^^Continental,-'' ^'Crescent City-'' and '■^Imperial,-' to remain on or 
go to the Tennessee river for the relief and use of the sick and 
wounded. In case you find it necessary or desirable, you will please 



43 

direct either of these boats to such poiuts as you may deem best for 
these purposes, and I will settle for the time they are detained in 
the service, on your certificate. These boats, so taken, ai'e not to 
be interfered with Avhile in use for hospital purposes. 

Respectfully, 

LEWIS B. PAKSONS, 

Capt. and A. Q. M. 

The following, of the same date, was also directed to the captain 
of the steamer ^^ Emjyress,-^ from the same source: 

'' You will at once proceed to Pittsburg, Tenn., unless otherwise 
ordered by James E. Yeatman, Esq., President Western Sanitary 
Commission, who will accompany you on the trip. * * * You 
will return to this point as soon as you can consistently be dis- 
charged from the duty on which you are sent, namely, for Miospital 
purposes.' ■' 

The hospital steamer *' City of Louisiana,"' arrived on the 9t]i of 
April from Pittsburg Landing Avith three hundred and tifty sick, 
haA-ing left there pre\aous to the battle. On the receipt of the in- 
telligence that a battle had been fought, she returned the next day, 
to the scene of conflict, with additional sanitary stores. 

The steamer " D. A. January, ^^ which had been purchased by 
the Government for a hospital steamer, fitted up by the Western 
Commission, and placed in charge of Surgeon A. H. HofF, U. S. 
v., was also sent to Pittsburg Landing. This boat from the date 
of this battle to the month of August, made eight trips, and cou- 
veyed 2,692 patients from ports on the Tennessee and Lower Missis- 
sippi rivers to northern hospitals, mostly to the hospitals of Saint 
Louis. She has been remodeled, in accoi-dance with plans of Sur- 
geon Hofi", and continued in the service, having rendered incalcu- 
lable benefits, accommodating five hundred patients, and bringing 
from Vicksburg, Helena, and elsewhere, many thousands of sick and 



44 

wounded to St. Louis and afibrdiug them the best possible treat- 
uient on tlie way. 

On the evening of the 10th of April the steamer ^- Empress,'^ 
being furnished by the Western Sanitary Commission with a com- 
plete outfit of medical and sanitary stores, with a corps of surgeons, 
wound-dressers, and nurses, both for herself and the large and splen- 
did steamer " Imperial,-'' (then on the Tennessee river,) started for 
Pittsburg Landing, in charge of the President of the Commission 
(Mr. Yeatman), where, on her arrival, the outfit for the ^' ImperiaV^ 
was transferred to that boat, and all were loaded with the wounded 
with as much expedition as was possible. 

On this expedition there accompanied Mr. Yeatman I)rs. Pollak, 
(rrove, Azpell, May, Bixb}^, and Barnes, Surgeon Grove, U. S. V., 
taking charge of the ^'Imperial" on arriving at Pittsburg, with 
the requisite force of assistant surgeons, stewards, wound-dressers, 
nurses, etc. 

A delegation of noble women from St. Louis, members of the 
Ladies' Union Aid Society, also accompanied this expedition as 
volunteer nurses, and rendered invaluable service. Among those now 
remembered who thus gave their timely aid was Mrs. Washington 
lOng, Mrs. Foster, Mrs. Perley Child, Mrs. J. E. D. Couzins, Mrs. 
C. B. Fisk, Mrs. J. Crawshaw, and Miss Patrick. 

On the return trip the steamer ^' Empress-^ was loaded with nine 
hundred wounded men, her guards, decks, and cabins being filled, and 
friend and foe alike provided for ; for many wounded prisoners fell into 
our hands on the second day of the battle. The '^Imperial" also 
returned loaded in a similar manner, and continued to run for 
several months as a floating hospital in charge of Surgeon Grove. 
The " City of Louisiana,''^ " D. A. January " and the " Crescent 
City,''^ also returned with their cargoes of human lives, and the 
wounded were received into the hospitals of St. Louis. 

The ci-owded condition of the hospitals and want of room made 



45 

it necessary that additional hospital accommodatious should be ini- 
mediately provided. The AYesteru Sanitary Commission proceeded 
at once to j)rocure two large halls in Arnot's and Thornton's and 
Pierce's buildings on Chesnut aud "Walnut streets, aud furnished 
them with beds and furniture and sanitary stores, and with the 
requisite number of nui'ses, for the accommodation of three hun- 
dred and twenty sick and wounded men. 

During the midst of these labors Maj. Gen. llalleck telegraphed 
the Commission from Pittsburg Landing to send twenty surgeons 
to that place for duty there. Nine were procured and went for- 
ward the same daj'", and afterwards an additional number. 

On the first of May the Commission made a report of its labors, 
from which the following particulars are selected as completing an 
outline of its history to this date : 

There were then fifteen military hospitals in and about St. Louis, 
affording- accommodations for for 5,750 patients, and a I'eserve Avas 
constantly maintained in readiness by the Commission of 250 beds 
in addition, making a total of 6,000. The number of patients ad- 
mitted to that date was 19,467, of whom 1,400 had died ; 15,717 
had been furloughed, discharged, or returned to tteir regiments, 
and 3,750 remained. There had been 162 additional deaths on float- 
ing hosioitals in transit, at McDowell's military prison, the St. Louis 
Arsenal, and at pi-ivate houses. The number of patients on hand 
was unusually small, great numbers having been furloughed, in order 
to relieve the hospitals, pending the expected battle at Corinth. 

The Commission had fitted four floating hospitals, regularly em- 
ployed for the transportation of the sick and wounded in the De- 
partment of the Mississippi, the " City of Louisiana,'^ Dr. Wagner, 
the '' D. A. January,"' Dr. Huff", the " Imperial," Dr. Grove, and 
the " Jilnipi^ess," Dr. Azpell, all very large and fine steamers, altered 
and arranged for this pui'pose. They were capable of transporting 
two thousand sick or wounded men, and were fully provided with 



46 

experienced surgeons, assistant surgeons, aj)othecaries, stewards, 
dressers, and male and female nurses. They had every conven- 
ience that experience could suggest, and were supplied with lai*gc 
reserves of hospital clothing, lint, bandages, delicacies, fruit, &c., 
that they might be prepared to furnish temporary transports or 
field hospitals whenever and wherever needed. 

As these boats were constantly plying between St. Louis and 
the immediate vicinity of all probable battle fields, no better method 
of securing prompt relief wherever needed could have been devised 
or desired. 

The first two of these boats remained permanently in the service, 
to wliicli others were added at a later period. 

The hosi^ital steamer " City of 3femphis," in charge of Surgeon ^V. 
D. Turner, U. S. A., had also been supplied Avith hospital furniture 
and stores by the Commission. 

There can be no doubt that these floating hospitals have saved hun- 
dreds of pi-iceless lives, by transi)orting the sick and wounded promptly 
from the field to well regulated hospitals, and by furnishing in trajisit 
good surgical attendance and nursing, and comfortable accommo- 
dations. 

During the eight months the Commission had then existed it had 
received 985 cases of goods from eighteen States, viz : 

Massachusetts 223 New Hampshire 16 

Illinois 132 ' New Jersey 11 

"Wisconsin 74 Minnesota 10 

Rhode Island 69 i Indiana 9 

Pennsylvania 63 ; Connecticut 7 



Missouri 61 

Iowa 57 

New York 51 



Vermont 6 

Maine 5 

Delaware 4 



Michigan 40 | District of Columbia 3 

Ohio 12 ! Not ascertained 137 

Besides these, it had also received large contributions in money 
and goods from the citizens of St. Louis and vicinity, not included 
in the above statement, for the reason that they had been received 



4-7 

ill bulk, in mauy instances by the wagon load, and in thousands 
of small packages. 

The articles distributed by the Commission, to that date, numbered 
166,288, including 6,813 blankets, 8,065 sheets, 7,034: pillows, 11,54:5 
pillow-cases, 10,44:3 towels, 5,249 handkerchiefs, 21,577 shirts, 11,159 
pair drawers, 19,519 pair socks, 4,384 pair slippers, 1,841 dressing 
gowns, 1,032 articles of clothing, 18,196 books and pamphlets, 3,084 
pads, 981 bottles of domestic wines, 1,459 cans jelly, 2,340 pounds 
farina, 1,400 cans fruit, and 25,000 miscellaneous articles, such as 
mittens, games, crutches, work bags, bed pans, spit cups, picket caps, 
pin cushions, eye shades, slings, iudia rubber syringes, isinglass plas- 
ters, remedies, etc. In addition to these the Commission purchased 
large numbers of articles for the complete outfit of the city and 
floating hospitals, and for armies in the field, embracing air and 
water beds, washing machines, implements of various kinds, barrels 
of stimulants, (of better quality and in larger supply than furnished 
by Government,) of eggs and chickens, cases of oranges and lem- 
ons, hundreds of pairs of crutches, invalid chairs of novel construc- 
tion, bedsteads, cots, mattresses, graduated back-rests, stands or stools 
for the bedside, sideboards for the proper security and arrangement 
of medicines, disinfectants, splints, and innumerable other articles. 
Seventy-four hospitals had then been supplied. The demand from 
every quarter rapidly increased and the distribution had reached 
the rate of 17,000 articles per week. 

Thus the labors of the Commission were greatly increased, and 
the work of ministering to the sick and wounded went forward night 
and day. Another great battle, it was expected, would soon occur 
at Corinth, and the hopes and anxieties of the loyal people of the 
country were raised to their highest degree of intensity. But the 
evacuation if that position by the rebel forces, and their escape 
under their arrogant and boastful commander. General Beauregard, 
in the presence of the powerful Union army that was arrayed 



48 

agaiust them by Maj. Gen. Halleck; now commancliug in person, 
disappointed the public expectation; and, notwithstanding- the retreat 
of the rebels gave us some of the fruits of a docisiye A'ictor}', yet 
tliey were enabled by this movement to get away without any sub- 
stantial loss, to go and assist in the defense of Bichmond, and to 
transfer the contest to Virginia, where the great battles of the 
Peninsula followed in the summer of 1862. In the West, it only 
remained to follow up our naval victories from Island No. 10 to 
Memphis and Helena, and to hold the ground alreadj-^ gained till 
another great campaign could be inaugurated in the fall of the same 
year. It now became necessary to attend to the sick, occasioned by 
the diseases of camp life, and the malaria of the southern climate, 
to look after the camps and li08])itals in Arkansas and Tennessee, 
and to continue the supplies to the hospital steamers of the west- 
ern rivers, and to the general hospitals established at various points 
from St. Lonis to Helena, The labors of the Commission during 
the summer of 1862 will form the subject of the next chapter. 



CHAPTER V . 

Letter of the Commission to the Surgeon-General — Scollay's Deodorizing 
Burial Case — Capture of Fort Pillow and Memphis— Opening of the Missis- 
sippi River to Vicksburg — Fitting out the Naval Hospital Boat "Red 
Rover" — Arrival of Gen. Curtis' Army at Helena — Its Destitute Con- 
dition — Sickness of the Army at Helena — Sanitary Depot Established 
THERE — Overton Hospital at Memphis — Sick from the ARxMY in Tennessee — 
Hospitals and Regiments Supplied — The Navy"— Letter froji Commodore 
Davis — An Earnest Appeal from the Commission — Generous Response from 
New England. 



The intimate coimectioii of the Western Sanitary Commi.'^sion 
Avitli tlie hospitals of St. Louis, and of the Department of tlie Mis- 
sissippi, and tlie frequent inspections made by its members, had 
given opportunity to observe defects, and to suggest remedies. 
Among the evils that arrested attention was that of iusufhcient space 
and air to each patient, many of the hospitals being too mucli 
crovrded, hindering and preventing the recovery of the sick, espe- 
cially in cases of typhoid fever, erysipelas, and badly wounded men. 

On the 8th of May, the Commission addressed tlie following com- 
munication to the Surgeon-General of the U. S. Army, at Washing- 
ton: 

S.VTNT Louis, Ifay 8th, 1S&2. 
Dr. AYm, a. Hamjiond, 

Surg eon- General U.S.A.: 
Sir : The Western Sanitary Commission of the Department of the 
Mississippi, most respectfully suggest the importance and necessity 
of some rule or law regulating the amount of space allowed to every 
patient in hospital. In the absence of such a rule great mistakes 
are made, and in many hospitals, otherwise well conducted, the beds 

D 



50 

wc so crowded together, and the number of cubic feet of air to each 
patient is so inadequate, that fatal consequences result. 

The members of the Commission haAdiig had large opportunities of 
observation, confidently express the opinion that not more than half 
the space necessary for the successful treatment of the sick, and 
especially of the wounded men, is usually allowed in the general 
and post hospitals. 

By actual measurement they find that the average of square feet 
on the floor, allowed in some of the best hospitals even, for typhoid 
and erysipelas and badly wounded j)atients is only forty or fifty 
feet per bed, and sometimes less ; and of cubic feet of air only 
three hundred and fifty to eight hundred feet, little regard being- 
paid to the height of the rooms occupied. 

They believe that no degree of cleanliness or care, or of j)rofessional 
skill can remove the evil effects of such over crowding, and that there 
is no way of preventing its continuance except by positive regulation. 

In making these suggestions the Commission has no design of 
complaint. The hospitals of this department are almost all well 
conducted and the patients well and skillfully treated, and the sur- 
geons would undoubtedly be glad to have authority to correct tlie 
evils referred to. The near approach of warm weather makes the 
subject one of urgent importance, and it has already become of 
painful interest to the Commission, during a recent thorough in- 
spection of hospitals, containing over four thousand sick and wounded 
men, many of whom are seriously sufiering from the causes named. 

The Commission is of the opinion that the minimum space in 
well ventilated hospitals should be six hundred and forty cubic 
feet for each bed, and for typhoid cases, erysipelas, and severely 
wounded men, not less than twelve hundred feet. Larger space 
would be desirable, but practical difficulties of various kinds fre- 
quently occur to make it unattainable consistently Avith the general 
interests of the service. 



51 

The Commission therefore respectfully and earnestly submit this 

matter to the consideration of the Surgeon General, and have the 

honor to remain, 

His obedient servants, 

JAMES E. YEATMAN, , 

C. S. GKEELEY, 

J. B. JOHNSON, 

GEOEGE PAKTRIDGE, 

WM. G. ELIOT. 

The subject submitted to the Surgeon General in this letter re- 
ceived his favorable consideration, and in the hospitals afterwards 
establislied a sufficient and specified number of cubic feet of air 
was allowed to each bed. In the case of the Lawson Hospital on 
Broadway, the regulation has been carried out very thoroughly, and 
the prescribed number of cubic feet of air allowed to the beds, in 
the several wards, is lettered over the entrance ; the ward having 
the largest space containing 778 cubic feet to a bed, and the lowest 
allowance in any ward being 606 cubic feet to a bed. 

In the spring of this year a most useful invention was brouglit 
to the attention of the Western Commission, designed to affi^rd a 
safer, cheaper, and better method of preserving the remains of 
deceased persons without burial, for transportation to friends at a 
distance, an object greatly desired by those having relations killed 
in battle, or dying in the military hosj)itals. The invention bore 
the name of " Dr. Scollay's Deodorizing Coffin or Burial Case," 
and was submitted to a series of experiments before a committee 
of the Commission, consisting of Drs. S. PoUak, Chas. A. Pope, and 
J. B. Johnson, Rev. M. Schuyler, D. D., and R. R, Hazard, Jr., Esq. 

The burial case is thus described in the report of this committee: 
" Taking the ordinary wooden coffin he [Dr. Scollay] has so im- 
proved it as to make it in all resi^ects equal, and in manj^ superior, 
to the iron, or any other case now in use. The coffin is made 



effectually air-tight by a peculiar match joint and a coating- of ce- 
ment, which not only renders it imper^dous to air and fluid under 
ordinary pressure, but must greatly preserve the wood from decay. 
To preserve the coffin from rupture under the extraordinary press- 
ure of the gases arising from decomposition, and to render the 
escape of such gases impossible, unless deodorized, a provision is 
made which constitutes the principal feature of the improvement. 
This consists of a deodorizing chamber, placed inside, at the foot 
of the coffin, of such size and so arranged as not to increase its 
bulk or alter its form. * * * TMi^ chamber is so arranged and 
divided that the escaping gases pass freely through apertures into 
the lower division, and thence into tlic middle apartment, which is 
filled with a deodorizing chemical compound. Through this they 
pass into the upper apartment, which is furnished with a self-adjust- 
ing valve, which yields to a moderate pressure and permits their 
escape." 

The experiments of the committee proved that bodies may be pre- 
served in these bui-ial cases without becoming oftensive for many 
months, not the slightest smell being perceived, even in the warmest 
weather — in one case after loO days. In another instance, in which 
antiseptic agents were used before encasing, it was observed, after 
nearly two months, that decomposition had been very slight, and the 
body was quite natural in its appeai'ance, and in a recognizable con- 
dition. 

The committee concluded their rejiort as follows : " The cases can be 
furnished at a trifling advance upon the ordinary wooden coffin in gen- 
eral use. They are light for handling and transportation, not liable to 
explosion, and it is reasonable to believe from the tests already pre- 
sented that bodies may be kept in them from thirty to fifty days, and 
perhaps longer, without becoming offensive, and the necessity of imme- 
diate burial and a disagreeable interment be avoided.'* 

The subsequent use of these deodorizing coffins, by Mr, Smithers, 



53 

government undertaker of this city, has more than establislicd the 
coiTectness of the foregoing conchisions. Tlie deodorizing coffin was 
afterwards sent to Wasliington, and after a series of exi^eriraents there, 
was approved by the Surgeon General, and Mr. Smitliers was con- 
tracted witli by Colonel Myers, A. Q. M., at St. Louis, to use it in the 
burial of all soldiers from the hospitals of this city, so that they might 
afterwards be more conveniently removed by their friends. But the 
Quartermaster General at Washington disapproved the contract, and 
it was never carried into effect. 

On the 12th of April the gunboats of the Mississippi Naval Squadron 
loft New Madrid, just below Island No. 10, and pi-oceeded down the 
river to Fort Pillow in Tennessee. An attack was made on the fort 
the next day, but was not attended with immediate success. On the 
■itli of May a severe naval battle occurred at this point between our 
gunboats and a Confederate ram and gunboats from below, who came 
up and commenced the attack, in the hope of destroying or capturing 
our naval force, including the mortar boats. The result of the engage- 
ment Avas disastrous to the rebels, one of their boats having been sunk 
and two others blown up, Avhile their whole fleet was crippled, and 
withdrew down the river. One of our boats, the " Cincinnati," was 
disabled, and four of her crew wounded. 

On the 4th of June Forts Pillow and Kaudolph were evacuated by 
the Confedei'ates, and on the 5th our fleet arrived at Meinphis, con- 
sisting of the gunboats Benton, Cairo, Carondelet, Louisville, and St. 
Louis, and the four rams Monarch, Lancaster, No. 3, and the Queen of 
the West. On the 6th a great naval battle ensued, the Confederates 
bringing into the engagement the gunboats Beauregard, Little Rebel, 
General Price, General Bragg, General Lovell, General Van Dorn, 
JefF. Thompson, and the Sumpter. The scene of the battle was in 
front of the city, viewed by thousands of spectators, and the I'esult of 
an hour's fighting was the destruction of the entire Confederate fleet, 
which was either sunk, or run ashore, except the General Van Dorn, a 



"54 

swift vessel, which escaped down the river. By this victory Memphis 
Avas captured, and the Mississippi river opened as far down as ViclxS- 
burg-, against wliich some naval operations were undertaken, and 
an attempt made to change tlie current of tlie river by a canal, 
Avhich were afterwards abandoned. 

By these events a new field of operations Avas opened to the Western 
Sanitary Commission. The naval squadron had now its own sick and 
wounded to be provided for, and general hospitals Avere immediately 
established at Memphis and Jackson, Tenn., and at Helena, Ark. 

At a meeting- of the Commission held the 22d of May, the President 
reported that Capt. Wise of the gunboat flotilla had proposed that the 
steamer ^'Red Bover," a fine large boat, captured from the enemy at 
Island No. 10, should be fitted up by the Commission, as a floating hos- 
pital, for the IVIississippi Naval Squadron, tOAvards Avhich he Avould 
furnish $2000, of the expense. 

She was accordingly remodeled in her cabin arrangements, and a com- 
plete outfit of beds, bedding, furniture, sanitary stores, medical dispen- 
sary, etc., supplied by the Commission, the serAices of surgeons, an 
apothecary, steward and nurses were engaged, and the boat placed in 
charge of Dr. Geo. H. Bixby, surgeon, and Dr. Hopkins, assistant sur- 
geon, tAvo thoroughly educated and skillful young physicians who AA^erc 
sent out, from Boston by that philanthropist and friend of the soldier, 
James M. Barnard. Their serA-ices were so highly appreciated that, in 
a few months, they receiA^ed the unsolicited honor of a regular com- 
mission in the U. S. Navy as assistant surgeons. Dr. Bixby has con- 
tinued in charge of the "Bed Hover" to the present date, and Dr. 
Hopkins also remains in the serAace, in which they have both acquired 
a liigh reputation and are greatly esteemed. The expense incurred 
by the Commission out of its own funds, in fitting up tliis boat, was 
$3,500, AA'hich Avas done Avith the greatest satisfaction for the braA^e 
men who had fought so nobly, and gained so many victories on our 
Avestern Avaters. 



On tlic lOtli of July the Army of the South-west under Maj. 
Gen. Curtis, arrived at Helena in a condition of great destitution. 
The toilsome march from Batesville under the intense heats of 
summer, the want of provisions, the difficulty of finding water to 
drink, and what was procured being often muddy and stagnant, 
caused much sickness to follow the severe privation of the troops 
on that terrible march, in which the heroes of Pea Eidge fought 
their Avay through to a new base of supplies and a river communica- 
tion with St. Louis. 

In midsummer, this army of ten thousand men pitched their tents 
on the bottom lands of the Mississippi, around, above and below 
Helena, and on the hill-sides and in the woods lying back of the 
town, and a more unhealthy location could scarcely have been found. 
But it was the only situation that could be occupied on the west side 
of the Mississippi below Memphis; its communication with Little 
Rock by the Clarendon road, its commercial advantages, its excellent 
houses, its convenience for stoi'age of commissary and ordnance stores 
all made it important that it should be held as a military post. 

The regiments suddenly changing their mode of life from the rug- 
ged and toilsome marches to which they had been accustomed, to one 
of comparative inactiAity, nsing water from the Mississippi, or from 
the poor springs and riviilets that were found along the margin of the 
stagnant cypress swamps that lie back of Helena, it was not surpris- 
ing that many of these stalwart men were soon brought down with 
bilious, remittent, intermittent and typhoid fevei's, and with diarrhea, 
so that during the autumn months, the regimental hospitals were 
filled, and the five churches of the town, with one exception, were 
all converted into hospitals. 

Mr. Plattenburg, the agent of the Commission, who had continued 
Avith this army from Pea Ridge through all its lengthy march over 
the Ozark Mountains and through the plains and bottom lands of 
Arkansas, by a circuitous route of nearly eight hundred miles, now 



5G 

f)|)eiicd Ji depot at Helena, and received a full supply of sanitary 
stores, Avhich he dispensed liberally to the regimental surgeons for 
their sick ; and to all the troops many articles of comfort were 
given, such as towels, handkerchiefs, combs, canned fruits, and 
vegetables, potatoes, onions, &c. These gifts "were received with 
the strongest expressions of gratitude, after so much destitution, 
hardsliip and suftering, and did nmcli to prevent disease and alle- 
viate distress. 

At Memphis one of the largest and finest buildings in the city, 
intended orignally for a hotel, was taken for hospital purposes, 
and called "The Overton Hospital." To Surgeon Derby, who was 
placed in charge of it, frequent shipments of sanitary stores were 
sent to meet the wants of the sick from the armies of Tennessee. 

At St. Louis the work of friendly inspection and oversight of 
hospitals Avent on through the summer and autumn of 18G2, and 
lai'ge supplies of sanitary goods were sent to the hospitals and 
regiments, hospital steamers and gunboats, throughout the Depart- 
ments of Missouri, the Tennessee, and the Mississi^jpi. 

The gunboats and naval hospital boat of the Mississippi squadron 
liad also been kept liberally supplied during this year. In September, 
the following letter was received from Commodore Davis, showing 
his high appreciation of the services rendered by the Commission : 

Flagship Eastport, 
Helena. September 18, 180'2. 

Stu : The pi-esent season is about drawing to a close, and upon the 
recommendation of Dr. Bixby, I have sent the hosi^ital steamer Red 
Kover to St. Louis, to be ])roperly fitted up for the winter. 

] cannot let her return to your vicinity without expressing, in behalf 
of myself and the otficcrs and crews of the vessels under my command, 
our heartfelt and grateful acknowledgments for your uniform kindness 
and attention to the wants of the sick of the squadron. 



51 

I beg- you to believe that your benevolent labors in our behalf have 
been fullj^ appreciated. 
I have the honor to be, with the u.tmost respect, 

Your obedient servant and friend, 
(Signed,) C. H. DAVIS, 

Commodore Commanding Western Flotilla. 
James E. Yeatjian, Es(^, 

President Western Santary Commission. 

Letters were also received from Acting- Rear Admiral David D. 
Porter, and from the Surgeon in Cliief of the Naval Flotilla, W. 
A^^helan, in October, expressive of similar sentiments, and acknowl- 
edging the receipt of sanitary stores. 

The resources of the Commission at this time luul become very much 
reduced. The great Ijattles in Virginia and Maryland, between Gen- 
erals McClellan and Lee, commencing on the Peninsula, in May, 
continued before Richmond, and ending- at Antietam, in November, 
had caused all voluntary contributions from New England and the 
Middle States, to flow in that direction, and the AVestern Commission 
had for months been thrown on its own resources and the aid of the 
citizens of St. Louis. Notwithstanding this diminution of its resources, 
the Western Commission also responded to the call of the Surgeon 
General, and forwarded fifty boxes containing- supplies of lint, band- 
ages, &c., to Washington. 

It now became necessarj^, however, to issue an earnest appeal for 
a replenishment of its stores, from which an extract is here given, 
showing its wants, tlie extent of its opportunities, and the work to 
be done. 

" The demands upon this Coumiission are as great as at any previous 
time, and the field of its labors is daily enlarged. An army of not less 
than one hundred and fifty thousand men, in Tennessee, Kentucky, 
Arkansas and Missouri, and the gunboat flotilla, looks to St. Louis for 
nearly all its sanitary supplies, and must continue to do so through the 



58 

war, as the most convenient and accessible place at all seasons of the 
year. Heretofore the Commission has been able to meet all requisitions. 
It has never refused to send liberally and promptly to any point, what- 
ever has been needed to alleviate suffering and to cure or prevent 
sickness. 

"In Missouri, Tennessee and Arkansas, the demand for all kinds of 
hosi^ital supplies is great, and increasing, for a war of unprecedented 
malignancy has begun to be waged, and exposures of our brave men 
both to disease and wounds are fearfully great. Those Avho are at a 
distance from the scene of action, can have no adequate idea of the pri- 
vations and hardshii^s of the service, or of the number of those broken 
down by it. The casualties of the battle-field are but a small item in 
the estimate. Forced marches, the murderous rifle of an unseen and 
skulking enemy, who knows the work of the assassin better than that 
of the soldier, fill our hospitals, and thin our ranks. To such risks 
are our sons and kindred exposed from day to day, in defense of the 
country which we all love so well. Has money any value greater than 
to supply their need ? Ought we to become niggardly in gifts, or 
weary of work in such a cause ? Can the women of America enjoy or 
endure the luxury of peaceful homes, except on condition of giving 
the labor of their hands and the prayers of their hearts to those who 
are defending them at such a cost ? 

" This appeal is most earnestly and affectionately made to all loyal and 
humane persons in the Union. They have already done much, but 
redoubled efforts in all departments of the war must noAV be made. 
The G()0,000 new recruits will not be without their sick and wounded, 
and many a hard battle must yet be fought. Let the rich give of their 
abundance. Let the poor spare all they can. 

•'•' Especially we appeal to loyal women, wherever they may be. They 
are the true " Home Guards" of the nation — the ministering angels to 
sickness and suffering. Without them Sanitary Commissions can do 



59 

but a small part of their Avork, and upon their efficient assistance Ave 
principally depend." 

This appeal was nobly responded to from New England, Boston alone 
sending- $9,000 at this time, and a few months later contributing- 
$50,000 more, for sanitary purposes in the western armies. One noble 
and patriotic woman in that city, Mi's. Thomas Lamb, has appro- 
priated a room in her own house for the reception of sanitary goods, 
for the western soldiers, letting it be known to her friends, and the 
result has been that she has packed and forwarded to this Commission 
of her own and their contributions, over one hundred boxes of hospital 
supplies, garments, etc., besides generous sums of money, the boxes 
ranging in value from $150 to $200 each. Other humane and patriotic 
friends, among them Messrs. James M. Barnard and E. C. Greenleaf, 
have also labored most indefatigably in the same way, and endeared 
themselves forever to all who knew of their noble services to the 
soldiers in the armies of the west. When it is remembered that Massa- 
chusetts has had her own sons, mainly in the armies of the Potomac, 
and in the Department of the South and of the Gulf, and that Avithout 
neglecting her duty to them, she has made the most generous dona- 
tions of any other State to our western troops, no one can fail to 
appreciate so noble an example of disinterested patriotism and benevo- 
lence. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Army of the Frontier — Agent sent to Springfield, Mo., with Stores — Bat- 
tles AT Cross Hollows, Cane Hill, and Prairie Grove — Arrival of Eev. Mr. 
Newell at Fayetteville with Ambulances and Sanitary Goods — His useful 
services — His Death at a later period— Notice of his Character — Flying 
Hospitals— Additional Hospitals at St. Louis— The Marine, Jefferson Bar- 
racks AND Lawson Hospitals — The diminishing percentage of Deaths— The 

HOPEFUL condition OF THE ARMIES OF THE UnION— THE SYMPATHY OF THE PEO- 
PLE WITH THE Soldiers— Prospects of Ultimate Victory. 



In the Fall of 186:^ Brig. Gen. Scliotielcl took comuiaucl of the Army 
of the Frontier, beyond Si)ringlielcl, Mo., and on leaving St. Louis, 
expres.sed the desire that the Commission Avould forward a full supply 
of sanitary stores to that post. Tlie suggestion was favorably regarded 
and acted upon, and an agent, Mr. J. E. TefFt, sent forward, furnished 
Avith ever}^ thing necessary as a supplement to the medical stores 
allowed to the surgeons in the tield. 

Many supplies had been previously sent to Surgeon Melcher, Medical 
Director at Springfield, and the additions now made were forwarded 
in view of the lirobability of more active hostilities between the Union 
and rebel forces of the south-west. 

This anticipation proved to be Avell founded. Towards the end of 
October, in the north-west part of Arkansas, near the old battle-field 
of Pea Ridge, at Cross Hollows, Gen. Ilerron liad a severe engage- 
ment with the enemy; and again on the 28tli of November, Gen. Blunt 
made an attack on Gen. Marmaduke, with about eight thousand men, 
at Cane Hill, forty-five miles north of Van Buren, in which the rebels 
were defeated, and retreated to tiiat place. Again, on the 7th of 
December, the combined Confederate forces, under the command of 
Gen. Hindman, estimated at fifteen thousand men, attempted to cut 
ofi" the reinforcements of Gen. Blunt, ten miles south "of Fayetteville, 



aiicT made an attack on Gen. Herron before lie had formed a junction 
with Gen. Bhmt. Gen. Herron's forces, however, held their ground 
until Gen. Blunt, who was informed of the movement, came upon the 
rear of the rebel army, at Crawford's Prairie, when there occurred 
what has since been called the battle of Prairie Grove, in which the 
rebels were defeated, the loss in killed and wounded on both sides 
being- very great. 

The wounded from this battle were removed to Fayetteville, and 
public building's and private houses were taken for hospitals; but there 
was a great deficiency of means to take proper care of the men, the 
town and the country around it having been greatly impoverished by 
the war, and the inhabitants being of the poorest class. There was no 
adequate supply of bandages, lint, bedding, stimulants, nor means of 
fitting up the empty houses and making them comfortable, nor of 
cooldng food. 

Previous to this battle the Commission had sent forward Eev. Fred- 
erick E. Newell to Springfield, to take the place of Mr. Tefft, with two 
ambulances and additional stores, and on hearing of this battle he 
pi'oceeded on from Springfield to Fayetteville. His arrival was most 
timely, and, with an earnest devotion to duty, he turned over every 
thing he had to Surgeon Ira Russell, U. S. V., in charge, and Assistant 
Sui'geon Carpenter, and went to work himself at whatever his hands 
could find to do. For a time he acted as carpenter, ambulance driver, 
nurse, wound-dresser, and general worker, and in the report afterwards 
made by the Surgeons, his services were spoken of in the highest terms 
of commendation. 

In the report of Surgeon Russell, he said: ''My thanks are due to 
the Western Sanitary Commission for the valuable aid rendered to the 
wounded from the battle of Prairie Grove, by its agent, Mr. F. R. 
Newell." In Dr. Carpenter's report he said: "Mr. Newell's sanitary 
stores were a perfect God-send to our poor fellows, many of whom had 
lost nearly all their clothing on the battle field. He made a judicious 



62 

distribution of his shirts, drawers, and other articles, among the most 
needy. He also placed at our disposal two ambulances, without which 
we could hardly have carried on the hospital. Enough cannot be said 
of an institution which performs such deeds." 

As Mr. Newell has since been removed from his earthly labors to the 
lieaveuh' life, it is proper that some further mention should here be 
made of him. After the battle of Prairie Grove he continued for seve- 
ral months to act as the agent of the Western Commission at Springfield, 
Mo., and in May, 1863, returned to St. Louis, where he was, soon after, 
elected chaplain of the 1st Missouri State Militia, and assigned, by an 
order of Maj. Gen. Schofield, to the duty of superintendent of freed- 
men in this city. For several months he attended to this work in a 
faithful and conscientious manner, interrupted occasionally by illness, 
when, on the 8th of January, 1864, after a severe attack of inflammatory 
rheumatism, he died suddenly, at Benton Bai*racks, at his post. 

As a friend of the poor freedmen and their families, as a Christian 
minister and a citizen, as a man of amiable, forbearing, and Christ- 
like spirit, he Avill be long remembered by those Avho were associated 
with him in his labors, and who knew of his fidelity to the cause of liis 
Divine Master. 

During the fall of 1863 the idea originated in the Western Sanitary 
Commission of a Flying Hospital, to accompany the army in tlic 
'field, prepared for the emergencies of battle, with the means of 
immediately providing for wounded men. The President of the 
Commission was authorized to fit out three ambulances, with hos- 
pital and shelter tents, cots, bedding, towels, sanitary stores, food, 
liquors, bandages, lint, sponges, vessels for supplying the wounded with 
water and stimulants, the whole to bo in charge of a competent person, 
with a corps of male nurses and Avound-dressers in attendance, to 
accompany the army, to be under the direction of the medical direc- 
tor, and ready at all times to assist the surgeons when required. Two 
pannier mules were also to accompany each ambulance, with straps 



03 

and fxtures, by which kegs of water and stimulants, and other ar- 
ticles of immediate utility on the battle field, could be carried on their 
backs, and be at hand when most needed. The plan was submitted 
to Assistant Surgeon General Wood, and met with his entire ap- 
probation. 

The first of these Flying Hospitals was fitted up for Gen. Grant's 
army, then at Corinth, Miss., and a letter, endorsed by the Assistant 
Surgeon General, was addressed to Maj. Gen. Grant, asking per- 
mission for it to accompany his movements. The Flying Hospital 
went forward to Lagrange, Tennessee, where the Medical Director, 
Surgeon Wirtz, refused his sanction, and would not permit it to go 
any further. The letter to Gen. Grant probably never reached him, 
as no answer was ever received, and the opposition of his chief 
surgeon defeated an enterprize which was, in every respect, practicable 
and unobjectionable, having for its object the better care and promx^t 
relief of our wounded soldiers on the field of battle. Some prejudice 
against Sanitary Commissions, or too great a readiness to regard 
their proft'ered assistance as an interference with oflicial dignity and 
routine, or some failure of military etiquette, are supposed to have 
stood in the way of this beneficent project. The mules and ambulances 
were afterwards returned to the Soldiers' Homes at Columbus and 
Memphis, whei'c they did good service ; the stores were distributed 
to the sick, and the nurses and wound-dressers performed valuable 
services in the hospitals at Lagrange and elsewhere. 

The outfit of Rev. Mr. Newell, as an agent of the Commission with 
Gen. Schofield's ai-my, with his ambulances and stores, was similar in 
its character, and proved exceedingly useful, after the battle of Prairie 
Grove, though not arriving in time to be present at the battle. 

The difficulty of procuring the necessary sanction, and co-operation 
of the regular army surgeons to such an enterprize has prevented its 
renewal, although there is never a great battle where these Flying- 
Hospitals would not be of the greatest utility and benefit, and save 



04 

many A'aluable lives. It is due, liowever, to Assistant Surgeon Gen- 
eral Wood, whose humanity is always paramount to official etiquette, 
to mention the tact of his hearty approval, and that it was at his 
I'equest that one of these hospitals was sent to the Army of the Fron- 
tier, then at Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

During the present year three additional military hospitals were 
added to those already established in St. Louis, the Marine, the Jef- 
ferson Barracks, and the Lawson Hospitals. The necessity for this 
arose from the large number of sick brought by the hospital steamers 
from the armies of tlic Frontier, tlie SmMi-wost, the Tennessee and 
the Mississippi. 

The ]\[arine Hospital was a government institution, originally in- 
tended for persons engaged in the navigation of the Mississippi river. 
It is a four story stone and brick edifice, surrounded by extensive and 
well shaded grounds, a garden in which the convalescent patients per. 
form a part of the labor, and has every convenience of a model hospitals. 

It was opened as a military hospital May the 4th, 1862, and then had 
accommodations for If)'! patients. From that date till May 1st, l.'-!()4, 
it had received 1574 patients, and its per centa^e of death was i». 
Dui'ing tlie summer of 1803 its accommodations were enlarged for 100 
more patients by the addition of wooden barracks, in which a new and 
excellent mode of ventilation was introduced by Mr. Leeds of Phila- 
delphia, by means of stoves, drawing fresh air through an air chamber, 
under the floor, and passing it tlu'ough the heating chamber of the 
stoves into the wards. There being also a ridge ventilation at the 
top of the barracks, and a ventilating shaft in each ward, with open- 
ings at the top and bottom of the rooms, no more perfect system of 
ventilation could possibly be devised, securing at the same time what- 
ever temperature may be desired. 

The officers arc Assistant Surgeon James H. Peabody, U. S. Y., 
in charge, L. H. Calloway, M. D., Acting Assistant Surgeon, and 
liev. James A. Page, Chaplain. 



65 

Jefferson Barracks was formerly a military post at which United 
States troops were stationed, situated about twelve miles below St. 
LouiS; on the west bank of the Mississippi river. It consists of long- 
rows of buildings, one and two stories high, with basement kitchens 
and dining-rooms, and wide piazzas, extending on three sides of a 
large plat of ground, in the form of a parallelogram, shaded with fine 
trees, the open end of the grounds being towards the river, with a 
high flag-staff on the bluff, from which the flag of the Union is always 
unfurled to the breeze. Tlie old post hospital stands near on an 
adjoining eminence, and is two stories high, and the jDOst chapel is 
situated several hundred yards back from the river, in a pleasantly 
shaded spot, retired from the barracks. 

In April, 1862, these buildings, except the post chapel, wliich is 
still reserved for worsliip, were converted into a large hospital, for 
which purpose they were admirabl}- suited, the rooms being large, 
having numerous windows on both sides, opposite eacli other, and the 
piazzas and shaded walks, affording excellent opportunities for exercise. 

Beside the old buildings, the Government, during the summer of 
1802, erected others on the ample grounds belonging to it, on the west 
side, so as to afford accommodations for two thousand five iKindred 
patients. These new buildings are one story high, in triple rows six 
hundred feet long, divided into wards of three hundred feet eacli. 
There are three groups or sets of these new hospitals, some distance 
apart, the entire grounds in every direction being beautifully shaded 
by large oak trees. They are so arranged that each group has the 
central row appropriated to a dining-room, and surgeons', nurses' and 
stewards' quartei*s, the outside rows being for sick wards. Besides 
these improvements, a system of water works has been introduced, 
with reservoir and pipes, by which the water of the Mississippi is 
carried through all the buildings. 

The institution is in charge of Surgeon J. F. Randolph, U. S. A., 
assisted by Dr. H. li. Tilton, U. S. A., and P. C. McLane, M. D.; A. 



(36 

L. Allen, M. D.; T. F. Rumbold, M. D.; Hiram Latham, M. D.; S. 
Leslie, M. D., and J. J. Marston, M. D. The Post Chaplain, Rev. J. 
F. Fish, has been stationed here many years, and continnes his ser- 
vices, in connection with Rev. S. Pettig-rew, Hospital Chaplain. 

The number of patients received and treated in this hospital in two 
years, ending April 30, 186i, is 11,434. The per centage of deaths the 
first yeai- was eleven and a half, which was much increased b} the 
large number brought to it in a dying condition. The per ceutage of 
deaths for the year just ended is nine and eight-tenths. 

The Lawson Hospital is situated on the corner of Broadway and 
Carr streets, and was fitted up during the latter part of the tall of 1862. 
The edifice w^as originally intended for a hotel, is seven stories high, 
and is divided into eight wards, besides otfice rooms, nurses' quarters, 
linen room, kitchen, dining hall, and store rooms. It is well ventilated; 
an average number of seven hundred and fifty cubic feet is allowed 
to each bed ; and it is provided with a steam engine and elevator, 
furnished by the Western Sanitary Commission, at an expense of two 
thousand five hundred dollars. The institution is in charge of Surgeon 
C. T. Alexander, U. S. A., assisted by ^Y. H. Bradlej^, M. D.; L. H. 
Bottomley, M. D., and Wm. Fritz, M. D. Rev. Phillip McKim is 
Hospital Chaplain. 

The hospital was opened January 17th, 1863, since which the whole 
number of patients received has been 3,021. For the first four months 
the per centage of deaths w^as very large, being twenty-five and nine- 
tenths, which w as owing to the fact that during that period it received 
the Avounded from the battles of Vicksburg and Arkansas Post, and 
the sick from Milliken's Bend and Helena, which were of the worst 
description, having many hopeless cases both of wounds and of chronic 
diarrhea, some of whom died as they were being brought into tlie 
hospital. The per centage of deaths for the last year, ending April 
30th, 1864, has been much less, being 7 8-10. 

The diminished per centage of deaths in the military hospitals during 



67 

the third year of the war, which the statistics of other hospitals will 
show, is evidence of a most gratifying improvement in the manage- 
ment of these institutions, and in the care and treatment of the 
sick and wounded soldier. This result has been influenced also by 
the sifting out from our armies, by death and discharges from the 
service, during the first two years of the war, all those who were 
not able to endure its hardships and exposures, those who remain 
being mainly veteran troops. No war has ever been conducted in 
which the per cent of deaths from disease has been so small, and the 
health and vigor of the troops so well maintained ; nor one in which 
there has been so strong a current of sympathy and aid from the 
people at home towards the soldiers in the field, as in this war for 
the unity and national supremacy of the American Republic. Civilians, 
unable to bear arms, men of science and of letters, the orators and poets, 
and clergy of the land, and the noble and self-sacrificing women of our 
free commonwealths, have all vied with each other in their efforts to 
give help and sympathy to the soldier, and to inspire an interest iu his 
welfare. With such an influence to encourage and cheer the armies 
of the Union, there is an explanation of the health, the spirit, and 
the unconquerable bravery of our troops, who, under their present 
tried and able commanders, are bearing the flag of freedom on to 
victory. May the spirit of liberty continue thus to animate all hearts, 
and welcome home our brave defenders when the last battle shall 
be fought, and our peace and prosperity be established on sure 
foundations. 



CHAPTER VII. 

(General Sherman's First Attack on Vicksburg — Works Assaulted— Severe 
Losses to the Union Arms — Hospital Steamers bring the Wounded to 
Memphis and St. Louis— Battle of Arkans.\s Post — More Wounded brought 
to St. Louis — Deleg.vtion of the L.\dies' U.mon Aid Society of St. Louis — 
Iowa St.\te Agent — Renewal of the Expedition against Vickshuro by 

(iENERAL GR.\NT — INCREASED H0SPIT.\L ACCOSIMODATIONS REQUIRED — ViSIT OF 

Mr. Yeatm.vn to Gen. Gr.\nt's Ar.mv — His Letter — Benton Barr.\cks 
HospiT.*.L, St. Louis — Additional Hospitals at Memphis — The Flo.^.ting 
Hospital, " City of Alton," the "Ruth," and " Gl.vsgow" — Second \isit 
OF Mr. Yeatm.\n to General Grant's Ar.my — His Report — S.\nit.\ry Stores 
sent to Gen. Grant's Army — F.\ll of Vicksburg — Its Untitled Heroes. 



In the latter part of December, 18G2, Maj. Gen. "W. T. Sherman 
embarked an army of twenty thousand troops on transports, at 
;^^emphis and Helena, and commenced an expedition against Mcks- 
bnrg, under the direction of Maj. Gen. Grant, who Avas to co-operate 
by laud, in a movement through Holly Springs to Jackson, taking' 
Vicksburg in the rear. On the 26th of December, the main forces, 
under Gen. Sherman, disembarked successfully at Johnston's Landing, 
near the mouth of the Yazoo river, and prepared for an assault the 
next day on the nortliern Avorks that defended the city. On the 27th, 
28th, and 29th, several attempts were made to take the fortifications, 
but a stern and terrible resistance was made by the rebels, who 
outnumbered our forces, and who had the advantage of the strongest 
natural defenses and artificial earthworks known in modern wartare. 

The result of the three days' fighting was a terrible loss in killed 
and wounded to the Union forces, and a temporary rolinquishmont 
of the undertaking. An unforeseen contingency, the capture of Holly 
Springs, in General Grant's rear, cutting off his communication 
and his supplies, had compelled his return to that point, and the aban- 



C9 

domneut of his part of the undertaking-, which had enabled tlie rebels 
to concentrate their forces at Vicksburg-, and accomplish (xen. Sher- 
man's defeat. The wounded of his army were immediately forwarded 
to the Mempliis and St. Louis hospitals by transports and hospital 
steamers. On their way they were met by a delegation of the Ladies' 
Union Aid Society, of St. Louis, hastening on the first boats with boxes 
of sanitary goods, to minister to their necessities. 

The AVestern Commission put in charge of these ladies a large supply 
of stores, to be used by them or turned over to the surgeons, as they 
should be needed. The agent of the Commission, Mr. Plattenburg, 
also went down with Gen, Sherman's expedition from Helena, and 
was on hand with his sanitary stores immediately after the fighting. 

The delegation of the St. Louis Ladies' Union Aid Society consisted 
of Mrs. Alfred Clapp, the President of the Society, Mrs. J. E. D. Cou- 
zins, Mrs. Washington King, Mrs. J. Crawshaw, Mrs. Wm. Clark, and 
Miss Breckinridge. Besides these there was also a delegation from 
the Chicago Branch of the U. S. Commission of Mrs. M. A. Liver- 
more and Mrs. Hoge of Cliicago, and Mrs. Henrietta J. Colt of Mil- 
waukie; and there was likewise Mrs. Annie Wittenmier, the State 
agent of the Iowa Sanitary Commission, who had in charge a large 
supply of sanitary goods from that State. All these noble women 
were indefatigable in their efforts to relieve and comfort the sick and 
wounded, and to minister to them. 

The disastrous attack on Vicksburg, which ended the year '62, was 
followed up, almost immediately by another expedition, with the same 
army, under Gen. J. A. McCleruand, assisted by the nav\', against 
Arkansas Post, on the Arkansas river, which was taken, after another 
severe battle on the 11th of January, '63, with eight thousand fjrison- 
ers, and a large number of cannon, ordnance stores and small ai'ms, 
the gunboats "Louisville," "DeKalb," ''Cincinnati," and "Lexington," 
under Admiral Porter, co-operating with the land forces. 

The fortifications at Arkansas Post were destroyed, and the expe- 



70 

dition then returned up the river to Helena and Memphis, bringing 
along several hundred wounded on transports, who suffered many 
privations, the surgeons being poorly provided with the means of 
making them comfortable. The boats were much crowded, the weather 
was cold, draughts of air were blowing through the cabins, the sick 
and wounded men had to lie on the floors, and there were not nurses 
enough to take care of them. 

On reaching Helena a portion of the St. Louis delegation of the 
Ladies' f nion Aid Society, who had just returned from Vicksburg, 
went on board these transports, took such sanitary stores with them 
as wore needed, and remained on them till they reached St. Louis, 
bestowing the tenderest care and nursing upon those poor suffei'ing 
and wounded men. 

The severity of these wounds, the unavoidable exposure in winter, 
the long passage to St. Louis, both of those from Yicksburg. as well 
as of those from Arkansas Post, resulted in the loss of many of these 
brave men, and a great percentage of deaths followed in the Lawson 
Hospital at St. Louis, where most of them were taken, as well as of 
the very sick, from Helena, being 25 O-lOth per cent of all Avho weic 
admitted during that winter, till the first of the next June. 

It was at this time, while there were so many sick in the canjps 
and hospitals of the army in Tennessee and Arkansas, during the 
worst winter known for many years, and Avhen so many wounded 
were thrown upon our care, that additional hospitals were opened 
at St. Louis and Memphis, and additional hospital steamers fitted up 
to ply to and fro on the Mississippi river, between the army and the 
well-furnished and well-managed hospitals farther north. 

This was done also in view of the renewal of operations against 
Vicksburg. On the failure of Gen. Grant's movement through 
Mississippi, to take Jackson, and attack Vicksburg in the rear, while 
Gen. Sherman attacked the city on the north side, he returned to, 
Holly Springs, _ punished thej-ecreant commander, Col. R. C. Murphy 



71 

Avho liad surrendered that post without any proper effort to defend it, 
by dismissal from tlie service, and tlience proceeded with Ids army 
to Memphis, where lie embarked his forces on transports for Young's 
Point and Milliken's Bend, La. Here he landed his troops on the 
29th of January. It does not come within the legitimate object of this 
work to give even a sketch of military operations, bej^ond Avhat is 
necessary to show how the Sanitary Commission followed the army 
and navy, and improved its opportunities of usefulness. 

During February and March, while the army of Gen. Grant was 
occupying the low region of country above Vicksburg, on the Lou- 
isiana shore, trying to change the bed of the river, by cutting a canal 
across the large bend, opposite the city; while gunboats and transports, 
with troops, were sent to explore the bayous leading to the Yazoo 
and Red rivers; and while an expedition was sent to open the Yazoo 
Pass, to effect a passage through the Cold Water and Tallahatchie rivers 
to the Yazoo, by which to destroy rebel vessels in that river, capture 
Yazoo City, and take Vicksburg in the rear, the Mississippi was 
overflowing the low lands in every direction, the camping gi'ounds 
of many of the regiments were flooded, the rains were incessant, 
and, as a necessary consequence, there was a large amount of sickness 
in the army. Exaggerated reports were circulated by letter writers 
through the Nortliern pi-ess, and much anxiety and uneasiness were 
felt in regard to the health of the troops. 

At this time Mr. Yeatman, the President of the Western Commission, 
went down to make a personal inspection, and on his return, on the 
loth of March, published a letter, giving an account of his visit, 
and of the actual state of things. In this letter he says: 

" For a short time after the landing of the army at and near Young's 
Point, consequent upon long confinement upon transpoi-ts, there Avas 
much sickness ; but the health of the troops improved rapidly, and 
the per centage of sickness is below Avhat I have generally found it 
in camps in other portions of the country which I have visited. Besides 



72 

many others, I visited every regiment in Sherman's corps, Avhich was 
reported in the worst condition. While in some of the new regiments 
the amount of sickness was larg-e, in others it was unusually .small. 
The great danger to be apprehended was from want of vegetable diet, 
s} mptoms of scurvy having* already made their appearance.'' 

Mr. Yeatman recommended that the friends of the soldiers should 
send large quantities of vegetables, fruits, and pickles, and the Com- 
mission at once sent a large supply, and directed its agent, Mr. 
Plattenburg, to proceed immediately and establish his headquarters 
with the army near Vicksburg. 

Mr. Yeatman remarked, with great satisfiiction, the interest taken 
by Generals Sherman and Grant in the health of their troops. He 
says of the former: "I saw Gen. Sherman going through the camps 
on foot, giving particular directions in regard to sanitary regulations. 
No one could look after his men more carefully than he does. While 
he maintains a strict discipline, he mingles with and goes among his 
men to ascertain personally their wants. He has a kind word for all, 
and is greeted, by his men, as one who cares for. and thinks of their 
comfort. With the sick he is as delicate and tender as a woman. I 
am thus particular in mentioning General Sherman's corps, as my 
attention Avas particularly directed to it, owing to reports which had 
been made to me." 

After describing the ample arrangements made for the care of the sick 
and Avounded, he remarked still further : " Gen. Grant is determined 
to have provision made for the sick equal to any contingency that may 
arise, and before long Avill quarter his army on high ground, on the 
opposite side of the riA^er. Assistant Surgeon General Wood is accom- 
plishing, and Avill accomplish, all that is possible to be done." 

AVhile these arrangements A\''ere being carried out near the scene 
of conflici, the Assistant Surgeon General was making extensive pre- 
parations, at St. Louis and Memphis, to be well proA'idcd against future 
emergencies. Under liis directions, the large amphitheatre building 



V3 

ill the old fair grouiids at Beiitou Barracks, a few miles northwest 
from St. Louis, and north of the St. Charles road, was taken pos- 
session of by the Government for hospital purposes. It M^as enclosed? 
provided Avith windows, floored, partitioned, divided into Avards, 
thoroughly whitewashed, furnished with iron bedsteads and good 
beds, and converted into one of the largest, most thoroughly ventilated 
and best hospitals in the United States, capable of accommodating 
two thousand five hundred patients. Numerous other buildings, near 
the main edifice, on the same grounds, formerly used by the Agricul- 
tural Society for its exhibitions, were used for officers' quarters, 
medical disi^ensary, commissary rooms, special diet kitchens, &c., and 
the fine walks and splendid shade added much to the beauty and 
attractiveness of the place. 

The institution was at first placed in charge of Surgeon Ira Russell, 
U. S. v., under whose administration it was conducted with entire 
success. It was opened March 1st, 1863, and during- the following- 
thi-ee months received two thousand and forty-two patients. For 
that period the per centage of deaths was only four and a half of the 
whole number. From June 1st, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, there were 
four thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight patients received, and 
the per centage of deaths was seven and one-tenth. 

In this hospital there was appointed an excellent corps of female 
nurses, who were placed under the immediate oversight and direc- 
tion of a supervisor of nurses, acting under the surgeon in charge, 
which position was ably and successfully filled by Miss Emily 
Parsons, of Cambridge, Mass. The good order, attention to diitj^, 
and faithfulness of the nurses, in the several wards, were greatly 
l^romoted by this system. Fortunately for the experiment it had 
the hearty approval of the surgeon in charge ; and it is due to 
him, as well as the supervisor of nurses, to say that probably, in 
no hospital in the United States, was the nursing of the sick and 
wounded brought to greater perfection than lie re. 



74 

Auxiliary to this system the Ladies' Union Aid Society also estab- 
lished a special diet kitchen, in one of the buildings in the amphi- 
theatre, which is wholly conducted by members of that societj', 
provided with delicacies for the sick, wines, stimulants, &c., to 
which the Western Sanitary Commission also contributes, and from 
this kitchen any delicate food needed for the very sick can always 
be ordered, by tlie surgeons, and be immediately prepared. 

For a few months of the autumn of '63, Surgeon llussell was relieved 
by Surgeon J. H. Grove, U. S. V., who conducted the institution 
on the same principles, and under whom it maintained the same high 
character. 

lu the winter of 186;j-l Benton Barracks became a recruiting station 
for colored troops ; hospital accommodations were needed for the sick 
of the colored regiments ; several of the wards were appropriated for 
their use ; and Dr. Grove, having been assigned to another position 
of responsibility aud trust. Dr. Russell Avas again placed in charge. 
Under his management the institution still maintains its original 
character ; the female nurses act under Miss Parsons, as supervisor ; 
the special diet kitchen is still maintained, in charge of Mrs. Shepard 
Wells, of the Ladies' Union Aid Society ; and the sick soldiers, 
whether of the white troops or of the regiments of African descent, 
each occupying separate wards, are treated with the care and kind 
attention due to the soldiers of the Union. 

Besides the general hospital, there is also a post hospital at Benton 
Barracks, likewise in charge of Surgeon Kussell. During the fall of 
1863, and winter of '64, many of the sick of the new colored regi- 
ments were treated here. The whole number of patients received 
was 6140, and the per ccntage of deaths S -J-lo. Female nurses are 
provided for this hospital by the Western Sanitary Commission, the 
Government only allowing them to the general hospitals. 

At Memphis, by direction of Assistant Surgeon General AVood, 
several additional hospitals were fitted up there in the winter and 



75 

spring- of 1863. They Avere generally the largest and best buildings 
in the city, having been originally designed lor hotels, or blocks of 
stores, four and five stories high. These hospitals were named the 
Overton, Washington, Gayoso, Jackson, Jefferson, Marine, Webster, 
Union, Gangrene, and OflBcers', and were capable of accommodating 
about 5000 sick and wounded men. During the summer of '63, 
while Gen. Grant's army was operating against Vicksburg, and after 
the fall of that citj^, these hospitals were filled, and there was a 
constant demand for sanitary stores. Maj. T. P. Robb, of Illinois, 
acted as a Sanitary agent for that State, and also for the Western 
Sanitary Commission, and distributed largely both to the regiments 
encamped at Memphis, and to the hospitals. 

Many commissioned ofiicers having been wounded at the battles of 
Vicksburg, were also without their pay, and were not allowed by 
regulations the ordinary accommodations of enlisted men. Their 
condition being made known to the Commission, it furnished a 
complete outfit of every thing necessary for a hospital of one hun- 
dred beds, called the Officers' hospital. 

The United States Sanitary Commission also maintained a well- 
supplied agency at Memphis, in charge of Dr. H. A. Warriner, an 
able and efficient officer, who had a general supervision of the work 
of that Commission, on the Mississippi river, and often acted in 
friendly co-operation with the agents of the Western Commission. 

During the same winter and spring the large and splendid steamer 
^'^ City of Alton,'''' was used as a floating hospital, being fitted up for 
this purpose; and the steamer '' i?H^/i," of equal dimensions and mag- 
nificence, (since destroyed), the steamer " Glasgow,''^ and a number 
of smaller boats wei'e likewise used as transports for conveying the 
sick and wounded from the Lower Mississippi to the hospitals at Mem- 
phis and St. Louis. Besides these, the large and commodious floating 
hospital " Nashville,''- was fitted up so as to accommodate one thousand 
patients, and located permanently near Milliken's Bend, in charge oi 



7G 

Siirgcou L. D. Strawbridg-e, U. S. A. ; and the hospital steamers " City 
of 3{emphis,''^ and "i>. A. January " capable of accommodating twelve 
hundred more, were under the order of the Medical Director, either 
for transportation to hospitals, or for the care of the sick and wounded 
for any length of time that might be needed there. The Medical Pur- 
veyor also had a boat set apart exclusively for medical supplies of all 
kinds, with cols and bedding sufficient to extemporize several other 
floating hospitals, in case of necessity. Two large boats were likewise 
turned over to the United States and Western Sanitary Commissions, 
whose agents were constantly receiving and distributing supplies. No 
army was ever better provided for than the army of Gan. Grant at tliis 
period, and to these efforts to keep up the health and vigor of the 
troops was due much of tliat courage and endurance which resulted 
in the splendid victories that crowned our arms, in the series of great 
battles fought at Fort Gibson, IJaymond, Jackson, Champion Hills, 
the Big Black river, and before the entrenchments of Vicksburg, to 
the fall of that city. 

AVhen at last this Gibraltar of the enemj^ fell into our possession, 
with thirl}' thousand prisoners of war, there were many sick and 
wounded men in the camps and hospitals around the city. These had 
still to be cared for and bi-ought up the river, away from the heats 
of summer in that Southern latitude. 

At the time of Gen. Grant's investment of Vicksburg, and the two 
unsuccessful assaults made on the rebel works on the 19th and the 22d 
of May, there wei-e four thousand five hundred of our brave troops 
wounded. The President of the Western Sanitary Commission made 
a second visit at that time in charge of the steamer '' Champion,'^ 
loaded with commissary and sanitarj'- stores. A large portion of the 
sanitary goods, and many tons of ice, having been furnished by the 
mcrcliants of St. Louis, Mr. Yeatman, on his return, publishhd a 
report of his visit, in which he says : 

"On the evening of the 26th of Mav I left here on ( ae steamer 



" Champion,'^ accompauied by a corps of surgeons, uurses aud dressers 
of wounds, numbering- fifty-five in all, with some two hundred and f ftp 
tuns of sanitary supplies, besides cots, mattrasses, and every thing 
necessary for taking care of a thousand wounded men, in case of ne- 
cessity, the latter articles having been furnished by order of the 
Assistant Surgeon General R. C. "Wood. 

"■ We did not arrive at Chickasaw Blufls, near Vicksburg, until 
the evening of the 31st of May, where we found that the number 
of the wounded had been greatly exaggerated, the actual number 
not exceeding four thousand five hundred. The arrangements of 
the Medical Department were most excellent, aud the transportation 
of the sick and wounded, on the hospital steamer, ^' D. A. January,''^ 
in charge of Surgeon A. II. Huff, were most perfect. I found that the 
greater part of the wounded, who required attention, and who could 
be removed, had been attended to. Of those who had been thus 
cared for there were about 1,900; and about 2,000 more, who were 
but slightly wounded, were treated in division hospitals, together 
Avith a few hundred who were too severely wounded to be moved. 
The division hospitals were being consolidated with the army corps 
hospitals, which were to be placed in shady, sequestered spots, where 
an abundance of pure, fresh Avater could be had. 

''The Avounded being so well provided for it was not necessary 
that our steamer should be used for hospital purposes ; the hospi- 
tal beds, bedding, and supplies were turned over to the proper 
medical ofiicers, and the dressers of Avounds and nurses were placed 
Avhere they could be most useful, some of them in hospitals and 
others on hospital steamers. By the time Ave arrived at Vicksburg 
all sanitary stores had become completely exhausted, and the new 
supplies, in ray charge, were greatly needed. They were at once 
placed in the hands of our Agent, Mr. A. ^Y. Plattenburg, by 
whom they were distributed, most liberally, Avhenever they Averc 
most Avanted. Blessings were invoked, by both Surgeons and men, 



for this timely care in providing for them, in tlie great extremity 
wliicli always succeeds a series of battles, and which can only be 
fully provided for in this vray. No parched and thirsty soil ever 
drank the dews of heaven, with more avidity, than did those 
wounded men receive the beneficent gifts and comforts, sent to 
them through this Commission." 

The number of articles sent to Gen. Grant's army from the Western 
Commission during the mouth of June, preceding the fall of Vicks- 
burg, was 1U,697, consisting of 3,090 hospital shirts, 3,080 hospital 
drawers, 1,260 sheets, 4,400 bandages, 2,412 bottles of Catawba wine, 
1,337 cans of fresh fruit, 1,976 cans of condensed milk, 10,000 lemons, 
1,600 gallons of lager beer, 5,477 lbs. dried apples, 2,400 lbs. dried 
peaches, 2,088 lbs. codfish, 1,850 lbs. herring, 11,710 lbs. crackers, 
23,060 lbs. ice, 1,800 chickens, 3,171 dozen eggs, 3,068 lbs. butter, 
1,840 lbs. corn meal, 3,145 bushels potatoes, 2,500 fans, 6,004 books 
and pamphlets, and of the following articles in similar proportions : 
Blankets, pillows, socks, slippers, handkerchiefs, towels, lbs. of rags, 
lbs. of lint, eye shades, oil silk pads, pin cushions, rolls of adhesive 
plaster, tourniquets, crutches, back rests, close stools, spit cups, 
sponges, splints, air beds, bottles of whisky, bottles of brandy, 
bottles of Catawba bitters, bottles of ginger wine, bottles of cassia 
syrup, bottles of blackbBrry syrup, lbs. of farina, lbs. of com starch, 
lbs. of oat meal, lbs. of arrowroot, lbs. of tapioca, lbs. of sago, lbs. 
of pinola, lbs. of flaxseed, lbs. of cassia, lbs. of allspice, lbs. of mus- 
tard, lbs. of nutmegs, lbs. of pepper, bottles of pepper sauce, bottles 
of horseradish, bottles of tomato catsup, bottles of cranberry sauce, 
bottles of flavoring extracts, cans of clams and oysters, cans of spiced 
tripe, cans of jellj^, cans of condensed soup, cans of cocoa paste, lbs. 
of chocolate, cans of portable lemonade, gallons of ale, bottles of drugs, 
bottles of extract of ginger, lbs. of dried small fruit, lbs. of dried 
beef, lbs. of extract of beef, lbs. of mackerel, lbs. of cheese, lbs. of 
bread, lbs. of zwieback, lbs. of cofiee, lbs, of tea, lbs. of sugar, lbs. 



70 

of sour krout, gallons of pickles, gallons of vinegar, bottles of fine 
pickles, lbs. of carbonate of soda, lbs. of saleratus, lbs. of citric acid, 
lbs. of castile soap, Cook's Manual, stationery, faucets, combs and 
brushes, lbs. of hops, lbs. of tobacco, bread trays, water coolers, 
scales, cooking stoves, brooms, tin cups, tin basins, tin plates, tin 
boilers, tin buckets, tin dippers, tin skimmers, coffee pots, tea pots, 
spoons, stew pans, cork screws, knives and forks, and iron boilers. 

Fortunate was it for these brave men that so much preparation 
and provision had been made for their comfort, and that loving hearts 
and kind hands had labored for them at home, sending contributions 
and agents, and volunteer surgeons and nurses, after them, wherever 
the fortunes of war had led them, to assist in binding up their wounds, 
in nursing them when sick, and in making them whole. On the fall 
of Vicksburg, on the following 4th of July, none rejoiced more than 
these untitled heroes, in the celebration of that day, bj^ so great a vic- 
tory, and none were more worthy to claim their share of its honors, 
and to partake in the glory of this, the greatest achievement of 
the war. ' 



CHAPTER V 1 1 I . 

Soldiers' Homes at Columuus, Ky., Memphis, Yicksuurg, and Helena — Over 
150,000 Soldier Guests Entertained — Further Account of the St. Louis 
Hospitals— Whole Nusiber of Patients Treated— Xumber of Deaths— Per 

CENTAGE OF DEATHS — ThE MILITARY pRISONS AT St. LoUIS AND AlTON. IlL. — 

Humane Treatment of Sick Prisoners. 



Ox Mr. Ycatman's first Aisit to the army of Gen. Grant, in the 
whiter of 'G3, he became satisfied of the necessity of Soldiers' Homes 
at Memphis, Tenn., and Cohimbus, Ky., where there were many 
troops stationed, and many others constantly arriving, cither going 
home discharged, or on furlough to visit their friends, or returning 
to their regiments, being frequcntl)^ without means to j^ay hotel 
expenses, and needing a place of refreshment and rest. The change 
of transportation from the river to the railroads, leading to Jackson 
and Corinth, made this the more necessary. 

On the 13th of February, '63, the Soldiers' Home at Memphis was 
opened for the reception of guests. According to previous arrange- 
ment made by the President of the "Western Sanitary Commission 
with Gen. T. C. Hamilton, then in command of the IGth army corps, 
the large residence on Beal street, known as the " Hunt Mansion," 
Avas turned over to Mr. O. E. Abaters, as agent of the Commission, 
for this purpose. 

It had formerly been the head-quarters of Maj. Gen. Grant, and 
more recently of Gen. Hamilton, and was the property of a Mr. "Wm. 
Richardson Hunt, a very w^ealthy planter, owning a great number 
of slaves, and noAV a colonel in the rebel army, many of his slaves 
still residing in Memphis and providing for tlicmselves. He spent 
over forty thousand dollars in building and beautifying tliis mansion 



81 

with its elegant grouuds, little dreaming that in doing this he was 
preparing so comfortable a home for the soldiers of tlie Union, and 
the defenders of the flag he liimself dishonored by his infidelity and 
treason. When the city of Memphis was captured by the United States 
navy he was among the first to flee, with his fellow traitors, and 
abandon his home and country for an uncertain abode at Atlanta, 
Georgia. 

When the Home Avas made ready for guests a card was published 
inviting the weary soldier to come and partake of its hospitalities, and 
it was not long till the place was much sought for, and groups of 
soldiers, dusty and travel-worn, could be seen occupying its piazzas and 
pleasant rooms, or sitting beneath its evergreen arbors and magnolia 
shades. 

The Superintendent, in his annual report, gives the following account 
of the opening of the institution : 

''Our first guests were brought in by Mrs. Governor Harvey. She 
found them wandering through the streets, sadly in need of a kind 
friend to give them assistance and care. One of them, a little drummer 
boy of the 2L»th AVisconsin Infantry, when brought in and laid upon a 
soft mattress, exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, 'Oh, how pleasant 
this is ! ' Brave little drummer boy ! his spirit found a brighter home 
and a softer couch ere the morrow's sun arose. 

"During the first three months we were confined exclusively to the 
care of discharged and invalid soldiers, very often having from twenty to 
thirty helpless men at a time, Avhen papers must be examined, pay col- 
lected and comfortable transportation secured, on some steamer going 
North. Many of these men I found lying upon the hard pavements in 
the streets, and on tlie bluff, near the steamboat landing, in a helpless 
condition, with no friend to assist them. Tln-ee-fourths of them were 
delayed here, from one to eight Aveeks, on account of imperfect jjapers. 
If the officers in our army, having this duty to perform, only knew 
of the suffering and anguish caused by their carelessness, they would 



82 

certainly look well to the careful and correct execution of the 
soldier's discharge papers and flnal statements. Many a weak, war- 
worn soldier, with his steps turned toward his Northern home, full 
of bright anticipations and cheering hopes that he will soon be 
mingling with the loved ones there, when told that his papers are 
defective, and rejected by the paymaster, and that they Avill have to 
be returned to his regiment for correction, has felt his heart sink 
Avithin liim, and the I'adiant smile has passed away from his face, in 
the bitterness of his disappointment. In some instances, before their 
papers have returned, they have waited, unable to go home, 
sinking in health, until their final discharge came from the court of 
Heaven, and, Avithout seeing their loved ones on earth again, they 
Avent up to their heavenly home, and their eternal reward. 

" Since the Home AA^as established, thirteen deaths have occurred 
within its walls. This number is small, comparatively, with the 
number of very sick men Ave have entertained. 

" After the first of May, ^Go, soldiers of all classes Avere admitted 
to the Home, and our numbers began to increase rapidly. The least 
number entertained in a single day Avas six, and the greatest number 
three hundred and fifty. After the siege of Vicksburg was over, and 
our army sent to other scenes of action, the number of sick materially 
decreased, and our attention was directed more to the care of well 
men, proA'iding food, transportation, etc." 

Of this class of guests the number has steadily increased, and the 
usefulness of the Home was never greater than at the present time. 
From its establishment, February 18th, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, the 
whole number of guests entertained has been 25,830, tlie number of 
meals furnished .5.5,894, and the number of lodgings proAaded 18,986. 
Of these guests the record shows them to have been largely Illinois, 
Missouri, Iowa, AYisconsin, and Indiana troops, with considerable num- 
bers from Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and other States, The soldiers 
from Illinois stopping at this Home, to the 1st of March, Avere 3018; 



83 

from Missouri, 1,524; from Eowa, 1,289; the remainder from otlier 
States. 

Besides the regular guests entertained liere, often the wife, mother, 
sister, or father of the sick soldier, accompanying him home, and hav- 
ing limited resources, Iiave been received as guests, and members of 
the United States Christian Commission, engaged in the work of min- 
istering to the army, have also been welcomed to its hospitality, and 
their religious services in the liouse have given it a religious and moral 
cliaracter that was higlily beneticial to its inmates. 

From the opening of this Home, to the present date, it has been under 
the superintendence of Mr. O. E. Waters, whose services have been 
constant, faithful, and satisfactory, in the highest degree. For several 
months he was assisted by Miss A. L. Ostram, as matron, who resigned 
her position to fill a similar one at Cairo, Illinois. She was succeeded 
by Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, who has occupied the position for nearly a 
year, and has imparted so cheerful a spirit to the Home, and been so 
unremitting in her labors that her praise is everv where spoken by 
those who have been the guests of the institution. 

On the 16th of February, '63, the Soldiers' Home at Columbus, Ky., 
was opened, and has entertained many thousand soldier guests. It 
was at first superintended bj'^ Mr. Brown, and for a short time by 
Mr. Geo. E. Wyeth, when Chaplain Ephraim Kute, became superinten- 
dent in the spring of "63, and continued in charge till September of the 
same year, Avhen he went to New Orleans to establish another Home for 
the Commission in that city.* He was succeeded at Columbus by Mr. 
S. J. Orange, the present excellent and faithful superintendent. The 
first matron was Mrs. S. A. Plummer, Avho was assisted bv Miss Ida 



♦The Soldiers' Home at New Orleans was duly established in October, 1862, by 
Mr. Nnte, acting as the agent of the Western Sanitary Commission, under a special 
order from Maj. Gen. Grant. He was provided with furniture, stores, and funds for this 
purpose, to the value of several ttiousand dollars, and the Home, on its first opening, was 
crowded with guests. Late in November it was transferred to the U. S. Commission, 
under whose .auspices it is still continued. Rev. Mr. Nute, from the date of this transfer, 
ceased to be the agent of the Western Commission, and soon after returned to his 
regiment. 



84 

.lohnson, and to both these ladies great praise is due, tor their devotion 
to the interests of the Home, and their kind and faitliful service to tlie 
soldiers, who were their guests. In August, "03, Mrs. Phinmier Avas 
transferred to the Soldiers' Home, at Vicksburg-, where she has con- 
tinued as matron to the present date. She was succeeded at Columbus 
by Mrs. Orange, who has performed the duties of matron with the 
utmost satisfaction. Many letters have been received from soldiers 
who have been the guests of this home, testifying their appreciation of 
the services of Mr. and Mrs. Orange, and their gratitude for the 
kind hospitalities received. 

The whole number of guests entertained at the Columbus Home 
from February IGth, 1863, to May 1st, 1861, has been 52,259, the 
number of meals furnished, 96,694, and tlie number of lodgings 
provided, 20,315. Tlie number of troops from Illinois, among the 
above guests, for the year ending February 16th, 1864, was 2,243; 
from Iowa, 888; from Wisconsin, 1,211; from Missouri, 864; the 
remainder being from the other Western States. 

The Soldiers' Home, at Vicksburg, was opened August 6th 1863, 
with Mr. E. K. Foster for Superintendent, and Mrs. S. A. Tlum- 
nier for Matron. On the taking of this city, it became the base 
of movements into the interior, and with its garrison and the 
moving of troops, and the changing of transportation from the 
river to the land it was foreseen that a Soldiers' Home would be 
necessary here. A large and good building was obtained from the 
(Tovernment for the purpose, furniture and supplies were sent for- 
ward from St. Louis, sufficient for two hundred guests, and from 
the opening of the institution to the present date, it has been crowded 
to its utmost capacity. 

Mr. Foster continued in charge till the 28th of November, when he 
was succeeded by Mr. N. M. Mann, the present competent and 
excellent superintendent. Mr. Foster continued to act as Sanitary 
agent for the Commission, at Vicksburg, from the ti-ansfer of Mr. 



85 

Plattcnburg to the loth army corps, till in January, 1864, when Jic 
was transferred to Helena, Ark., to open a Home at tliat place. 

Mrs. Plummer has continued to act as matron of the Vicksburg' 
Home from the beginning-, and devoted herself to its duties with her 
usual zeal and interest in the welfare of the soldiers. She has been 
ably assisted in her labors bj^ Miss Hattie Wiswall, assistant matron, 
another of the excellent and devoted women, who have been untiring 
in their sei"vices to our brave defenders in arms, from the beginning 
of the war. For many months this Home has also enjoyed the volun- 
tary labors of Mrs. Governor Harvey, of Wisconsin, who, finding it 
crowded with guests, has lent a helping hand in its management, 
besides giving much of her time and energy to the interests of the 
poor freedmen and their families, and to the destitute Union refugees. 
Mr. Mann has also labored most efficiently for these people, of which 
an account will be given in a chapter devoted to that subject. 

The number of soldiers entertained at the Vicksburg Home, from 
August 6th, 18G3, to May 1st, 1864, has been 49,7:18; the luimber of 
meals furnished 81,144, and the number of lodgings provided 30, 88*2. 
Of the guests for six months, 3,866 IiaA'e been from Illinois regiments; 
1,919 from Iowa regiments; 829 from Wisconsin regiments; 4.")1 from 
Missouri regiments; the rest being from other States. 

There haA'e also been entertained at this Home quite a number of 
persons, laboring as agents and teachers to the freedmen, and mem- 
bers of the Christian Commission, who, being engaged in a similar 
work of benevolence and Christianitj^, and the city being without 
sufficient hotel accommodations, have been welcomed, from time to 
time, to its hospitalities. 

On February 11th, 1864, another Soldiers" Home Avas opened at 
Helena, Ark. Having" a large army in Arkansas, and many troops 
passing through Helena, on their way to and from their regiments, it 
was deemed advisable, with the concurrence of Brig. Gen. N. B. 
Buford, commanding that post, to establish a Homo there. In this 



86 

work Gen, Buford and his excellent lad}^ afforded much aid, and one 
of the churches of the place having- been assigned for the purpose, 
with new buildings erected for office room, kitchen, and dining hall, 
the institution was soon comfortably fitted up with bedsteads, beds, 
bedding, kitchen furniture, stores, etc., sent from the Western Com- 
mission, and was immediately filled with guests. For a brief period 
Mr. R. K. Foster acted as superintendent, when he returned to St. 
Louis, and Rev. John I. Herrick, chaplain of the 29tli Wisconsin 
infantry, being on detached service at Helena, was detailed by Gen. 
Buford, at the request of the Commission, to act as superintendent, 
and continues in charge at this date. Mrs. II. A. Haines, an expe- 
rienced and capable person, was sent down to be matron, and has 
filled the position thus far very successfully, and with entire satisfiiction 
to the Commission. During the three months the Home has been 
established, it has entertained 3527 guests, furnished 80G2 meals, and 
and provided 31G2 lodgings. 

Summing up the statistics of all these Homes, including the one at 
St. Louis, it will be found that there have been entertained in them 
152,200 soldier guests, 327,786 meals furnished, and 9C,635 lodgings 
provided, and that of this number there have been 14,703 guests from 
Illinois regiments, 7,359 from Missouri regiments, and 8,711 from 
Iowa regiments, up to March 1st, 1864, the remainder being divided 
among soldiers from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, 
Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, 
and the U. S. regulars. 

Besides the hospitals of St. Louis, of which a previous account has 
been given, there are two Post hospitals, one on Hickory street, and 
the other at Benton Barracks, the Gratiot Prison hospital, and the 
Small-pox hospital on Duncan's Island. The first of these was 
originally a General hospital, and there was formerly a Post hospital 
at Schofield Barracks, in the immediate vicinity, on Chouteau Avenue, 
which was consolidated with it November 1st, 1863. The whole 



87 

number of patients received at Hickory street, to that date, was 182G, 
and the per centage of deaths was 6 1-10, and at Schofield Barracks 
the number of patients received was 206, and the per ceutag-e of deaths 
4 3-10. At the Military Prison hospital, in McDowell's College, 
Gratiot street, the number of patients received to May 1st, '64, is 
3,514, and the per centage of deaths 11 4-10. The surgeon in charge 
is B. B. Breed, U. S. V. The number of patients received at the 
Small-pox hospital to June 1st, ^60, was 871, and the per centage of 
deaths 22 9-10. The number of prisoners received at the same institu- 
tion, for the same period, Avas 162, and the per centage of deaths 34 1-2. 
The great mortality of prisoners in this hospital, and at McDowell's 
College, Gratiot street, was owing largely to the neglected and ex- 
hausted condition in which they fell into our hands. No statistics 
have been received from this institution, for this work, although 
requested of the surgeon in charge. 

The number of patients treated at the Post hosj^ital on Hickory 
street, from November 1st, 1863, to May 1st, 1864, is 1,412, and the 
per centage of deaths 2 9-10. The institution is in charge of Frank 
W. White, M. D., A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A. 

The Good Samaritan, the Fifth street, the Elliott, and the New 
House of Eefuge hospitals, having been discontinued, the statistics 
of them may be found in the second Annual Eeport of the Commis- 
sion, June 1st, 1863. 

The whole number of patients treated in the hospitals of St. Louis, 
including those at Jefferson and Benton Barracks, up to May 1st, '64, 
is 61,744, the number that have died is 5,684, and the per centage of 
deaths 9 1-10. 

The military prisons of St. Louis have, from the beginning of the 
war, received the constant attention of the "Western Sanitary Com- 
mission, and sanitary stores have been issued to them in all cases of 
urgent need, upon the requisitions of the surgeon in charge. 



S8 

In November, 1862, the hospital of Gratiot Street Prison, in Mo 
Dowell's College, used exclusively for prisoners of war, was found to 
be much crowded, and the building- also needed a thorough renovation 
and cleansing. The facts were reported to Maj. Gen. Curtis, then 
commanding the department, and the crowded condition both of the 
prison and the hospital, was obviated by sending a considerable num- 
ber to the large military jirison at Alton, Illinois. The Commission 
then'had the whole interior of the prison and hospital thoroughly 
cleansed and whitewashed, by wards, and the condition of things was 
much improved. Assistant Surgeon General AVood also assigned two 
surgeons to the prison, and made its hospital entirely separate, with 
its own arrangements complete. 

The Commission made an effort at the same time to induce the gov- 
ernment to vent other and larger buildings for a military hospital, but 
the necessity having in a measure ceased, with a removal of a part 
of the patients to Alton, it was not successful. 

The Myi'tle Street Prison, in which military offences by United States 
troops are jiunished, was also thoroughly inspected at the same time, 
and measures of improvement were carried into effect. 

The Commission has extended its inspections to the military 
prison at Alton, Illinois, and furnished supplies, to most urgent cases 
of need, on the requisition of the surgeon in charge. This prison is 
the same formerly occupied as the Illinois State Penitentiary, which 
was removed to Joliet, just before the breaking out of the war. It 
has a large area of ground, 420 by 323 feet, enclosed by a high stone 
wall, with the prison buildings inside, is in a healthy location, within 
a few rods of the Mississippi river, on the east side, has good water, 
excellent drainage, a free circulation of pure air, and could not be better 
adapted to the purposes for which it is used. 

A committee from the Western Sanitary Commission visited it in 
December, 1862, and in a published report of the visit, said, ''We 



89 

found the hospital to be a good, brick structure, 104 by o5 feet, well 
ventilated, but insufficiently Avarmed. It contains sixty-three patients. 
Many of the sick were needing- proper under-clothing-. Most of the 
buildings In the enclosure stand isolated, with considerable ground 
between them, so that in a moral and sanitary point of view, they are 
very favorably situated. The prisoners are fnrnished abundantly with 
good wholsome food, and they appear to be entirely satisfied with the 
kind treatment of officers and attendants. The clothes of the prisoners 
are washed outside the walls, by laundresses, paid out of the prison 
funds. There is also a washing apparatus on the ground, with a plen- 
tiful supply of hot water, and soap, which is freely resorted to by 
the inmates." 

There were then 700 prisoners confined in this prison, with accom- 
modations for 1,300. Since then, it has frequently contained over one 
thousand. During a recent visit of the Secretary of the Commission, he 
found the hospital in an excellent condition, in charge of Surgeon T. A. 
Worrell, U.S.V., Dr. Hez. Williams, A. A. Surgeon, with beds for three 
hundred patients; the floors clean, and the ari-angements similar to the 
military hospitals for our own troops. There were 1-20 sick prisoners 
out of 1000, then in prison. The four female nurses in attendance Avere 
Sisters of Charity. A chaplain is also allowed the prison, Eev. Father 
Yehay, of the Catholic church. A suppl}^ of sanitary stores has been 
recently sent to the Surgeon in charge, on his requisition. The small- 
pox patients are treated in tents, on the island, just opposite Alton. 
There were recently but few cases of this disease. 

Those wlio die in this prison, are buried in a ground about two miles 
out of the city, set apart especially for that purjiose. They are fnr- 
nished with a coffin, the same as the Union soldier, and are in all 
respects decently interred. Head boards, with the initials of their 
names are placed at each grave, so that there can be no difficulty iden- 
tifying the spot. 



90 

The statistics of the prison and hospital were recently requested, for 
the purpose of giving a more complete statement for this work, but 
were refused by Brig. Gen. Copeland, commanding the post. It is 
believed that the facts would show that this prison and its hospital 
have been conducted in a manner creditable to the humanity of the 
United States Government, and would convey, by contrast, a terrible 
rebuke to the inhumanity with Avliich our soldiers have been starved 
and treated in the pi'isons of the South, 



CHAPTER IX. 

Sanitary Stores sent to the Army of Gen. Davidson, at Bloomkield, Mo.— 
Part of them Captured by Guerrillas — Narrow Escape of the Agent — 
Stores sent to the Army of Gen. Steele, at Duvall's Bluff and Little 
Rock — Agency' Established at Little Rock — Acknowledgments — Stores sent 
TO Fort Blunt, Cherokee Nation — Acknowledgment— Stores sent to Color- 
ed TROOPS at Milliken's Bend, Goodrich's Landing, and Vicksburg — Let- 
ters of Rev. Dr. Eliot and Mr. Yeatman — Books and Instruction furnish- 
ed to Colored Troops at Benton Barracks — Letter from Col. A. Watson 
Webber — Stores sent to Nashville and Murfreesboro, Tenn. — Agency at 
Huntsville, Ala. — Stores sent to the Naval Flotilla — Veteran Kegiments 
Entertained at St. Louis— Stores to the 3.3d Illinois Infantry — Acknow- 
ledgment — Stores to Banks' Army on Red River — Several Important Ques- 
tions Answered — Do the Soldiers get any of the Sanitary Stores? — Il- 
lustrations — Accountability of Agents — Hospitals, Regiments, Hospital 
Steamers and Gunboats supplied with Sanitary Stores — List of Female 
Nurses who have proved their worth in the Hospitals of Saint Louis. 



During the month of August, 1863, Brig-. Gen. Davidson, command- 
ing- a force of cavah-y, was stationed at Bloomiield, Mo., preparatory 
to a movement on Little Eock. His side were to be left at that place, 
in hospital, and, in accordance with his request, the Commission sent 
an agent there, Mr. H. J. Waterman, with a large supply of sanitary 
stores. On the waj^ from Cape Girardeau to Bloomfield, with a com- 
missai'y train, in which six of the wagons were loaded with the stores 
of the Commission, the ti-ain was attacked, while encamped at night, 
by a band of guerrillas of the enemy, twelve soldiers and teamsters 
were killed, the mules were carried off, and the wagons, commissary 
stoi-es, and sanitary goods set tire to and burned, with the exception 
of two wagons, which happened to contain sanitary stores. The 
guerrillas then made their escape, and Mr. Waterman, with the captain 
of the train, who had narrowly escaped, proceeded on the next day 
to Bloomtield, in a very crippled condition. On arriving there, what 
was left of the sanitaiy stores were distributed to the sick, in hosijital, 



9 J 

where they were much needed, and most thankfully received, and 
Mr. Waterman returned to Cape Girardeau, where he had left about 
half of his original supply, being- unable to procure transportation. 

Previous to his reaching Bloomfield, Gen. Davidson had moved on, 
towards Little Rock, Avith his available forces, and as it was now 
known that Maj. (4en. Steele was about to move from Helena, with a 
large force, to the same point, it was deemed advisable, by the Com- 
mission, that a permanent agent should accompany this expedition. 
Mr. AVaterman Avas accordingly ordered to proceed, from Cape 
Girardeau, with his stores, to llelena, by the river, and there join 
the command of Gen. Steele. On his arrival at Helena, the expedition 
had moved as far as Clarendon, on AYhite river, and the weather being 
warm, it was reported that already there were many sick at that 
point. Mr. Waterman, wilh difficulty, procured transportation, and 
reached Clarendon, where, being- himself taken very sick, with an 
attack of fever, he turned over his stores to the Medical Director, 
Surgeon James C. Whitehill, and returned home. 

In the meantime the Commission had forwarded additional supplies 
for this expedition, whicli were on the way to Helena, to be i-e- 
shipped there up White river to Clarendon. Another agent, Mr. 
George M. Wyeth, who had been sent to Helena to act at that point, 
was now sent forward to take the place of ]Mr. Waterman. By the 
urgent advice of Surgeon Casselberry, Medical Director at Helena, 
he proceeded at once to join Gen. Steele's army at DuvalTs Rluft", 
taking along the sanitary stores with him, which had previously 
arrived at Helena, and distributing them to the surgeons, for their 
sick, in general hospital, and to tiie regimental hospitals. 

The army of Gen. Steele having advanced upon Little Rock, tlie 
capital of Arkansas, and after a battle Avith the rebel forces, under 
Gen. Price, captured the city, many sick were still left at Duvall's 
Bluff, where a general hospital had been established. 

Better hospital accommodations, howeA^er, were found at Little Rock, 



93 

which now had become the head-quarter? of the Army of Arkansa!<, 
and the sick were soou removed and provided for there. Mr. AVyeth 
immediately established his agency at Little Rock, and distributed to 
the hospitals, and camps of the army, according to their necessities, 
receiving regular shipments of supplies from St. Louis, and fulfilling 
the duties of his position with fidelity and success. 

Among the testimonials of the great good accomplished by this 
agency, a letter was received, September oOth, 1863, from Rev. E. S. 
Pcake, Chaplain 28th Wisconsin Infantry, who had assisted Mr. Wyeth, 
iu liis work, in which he says: 

" The Sanitary Commission has accomplished so much good by pro- 
viding and forwarding supplies of the articles most needed for the 
relief and comfort of the sick in the Arkansas expedition, that it gives 
me great pleasure to send a brief statement of the facts. Your agent. 
Mr. AVyeth, arrived at Helena in time to learn the wants of the expe- 
dition, and followed the army up White river, to Duvall's Bluflf, where 
our general hospital was established under temporary sheds. He 
brought some tons of sanitary stores, and remained there, attending 
to their i^roper distribution, until the order was given to remove all 
the sick to Little Rock. These supplies have been the means of saving 
many valuable lives to the army and to the country. 

"Mr. Wyeth visited Little Rock by the first railroad traiu that came 
through, and took a tour of inspection through the hospitals, general 
and regimental, learning the actual condition of the sick, and their 
wants. He has sent to us all the supplies remaining at the Bluft", 
and has now gone to Helena, hoping to find another shipment from 
St. Louis at that point. The U. S. Sanitary Commission has sent 
its contributions to us through Dr. Fithian, so that Ave have been 
able to meet the call for aid, which comes from the hospitals of a large 
army, iu a very satisfactory degree. We look upon this, however, as 
only tlie beginning iu a great work of charity, which must be con- 
tinued for several months to come. 



94 

•'Let not our friends be weary in doing well. If they could see the 
good that they are doing, and the relief that their contributions aflbrd, 
to the sick and wounded in the army, who, from their position, are 
helpless and dependent, it would prove an abundant encouragement 
and reward. The moral effect of this work upon the army is of great 
importance. It makes men braver and better soldiers and patriots, to 
see these tokens of interest, care, and love following them from their 
homes." 

On the same day. Surgeon James C. Whitehill, medical director at 
Little Rock, also wrote to the President of the Commissio]i : 

"•Permit me through Surgeon J. T. Ilodgen to acknowledge the 
receipt of a fine supply of sanitary stores, and on behalf of our sol- 
diers to thank you and the generous donors for so opportune a testi- 
monial of their and your continued care and sympathy. We have had 
a great deal of sickness, and the country through Avhich we have 
passed has been able to furnish but little adapted to the wants of the 
sick soldier. I have myself receipted to your agent, Mr. AYyeth, for 
the goods received, and placed them under the care of a most reliable 
and Avorthy man, who attends to their faithful distribution. Your Com- 
mission is doing an inconceivable amount of good for our sick soldiery 
and deserves the hearty co-operation and liberal support of Christians 
and philanthropists." 

During the summer the Commission had also sent a shipment of 
stores to the colored soldiers at Fort Blunt, in the Cherokee country, 
Avhich was duly received and acknowledged by Surgeon S. C. Harring- 
ton, of the 1st Kansas Colored Infantry, in a letter, in which he says: 
"The goods were exceedingly opportune, as there was a great desti- 
tution of such things here. Were it not for your Commission, the 
army must suffer greatly for want of those things it most needs." 

During the autumn of '63, generous supplies of sanitary stores were 
sent to the colored regiments, at Milliken's Bend, Goodrich's Landing, 
and Vicksburg. In a letter of Rev. Dr. Eliot, under date of August 



95 

21st, to friends in Boston, lie wrote: " We have the Avhole army west 
of the Mississippi, to see to, and a large part of Gen. Grant's, and 
the gunboats, and the summer sickness are daily becoming worse. 
At Helena, Avhere sucli grind fighling was done on the 4th of July, 
there are two thousand sick, left by armies moving forward. Gen. 
Steele writes, that he never needed our services more than now; and 
from every direction the claims come in upon us. We are making 
very large shipments daily, and are, this week, under the necessity 
of taking a large additional store-room for our bulky stores." 

Under the same date, in answer to inquiries respecting colored 
troops, Mr. Yeatman writes: "We care for the sick and wounded 
colored soldiers, just as we do for the Avhite. We have supplied a 
number of regiments in Louisiana, Mississippi, Kansas, and in this 
city. The accounts we have of them entitle them to our confidence." 

During the fall and winter of 180;j-4, Brig. Gen. Wm. A. Pile, 
organized three brigades of colored troops, at Benton Barracks, and 
in order that they might have evcr\' benefit that Avas possible, during 
the period of their organization and drill, tlie Commission purchased 
three thousand copies of Sargent's Standard Primer, for their use, and 
teachers were provided to instruct them in reading; their officers and 
Eev. Wm. H. Bradley, in the service of the Commission, taking part 
in this work. The sick of these brigades, in hospital, received the 
same treatment and attention as white troops; and sanitary stores 
were supplied, both from the Commission and from the Ladies Union 
Aid Society, as they were needed. 

Among the acknowledgments received from the otfi.cers of colored 

troops, the following is given, from the colonel of the 1st Mississippi 

Vol. Infantry, A. I)., d<^ted : 

" VicKsisuiui, Dec. 29, 1863. 
"Eev. J. G. Fohmax, 

'■'■ Sec'rij Western Sanitary Commission: 

"Dear Sir — I forward enclosed herewith, a receipt for sanitary 

stores, so kindly sent to my regiment. They will be of great benefit 



96 

to my men, and I am very much obliged for so bountiful a supply. 
They will perform a great and needed good, not only for the sick, but 
for those on duty. I cannot but reg'ard the prevention of disease, by 
suitable additions to the diet and comfort of the men, as important as 
it is to cure them, after they have filled the hospitals. I propose that 
ray brave colored troops should have something extra on New Year's 
day. 

" There is no limit to the good that can easily be done for this most 
susceptible people. How the minds of men have been blinded in 
regard to tliem ! What outrageous sins has not our white humanity 
to account for ! How dark blindness seems when one has passed from 
it to the broad light of day ! 

''The oiRcers from the old 'Third Missouri' send their kindest 

regards. 

" Yours, very trulv, 

••A. WATSON WEBBEK, 

" Colonel Commanding .■■ 

During the fall and winter of llsGo-4 generous supplies were sent 

by the Commission to the Nashville Branch of the Ladies' Union Aid 

Society, of St. Louis, and to Mrs. Barker, and other ladies, who were 

laboring in connection with the U. S. Christian Commission, both 

there and at Murfreesborough, Tenn., in the general hospitals. The 

long-tried and faithful agent of the Commission, Mr. A. W. Flatten 

burg, also went forward to Nashville with stores, and afterwards up 

the Tennessee river, as far as Eastpori, to Gen. Sherman's army, and 

still later established an agency at Huntsville, Ala., from which point 

liberal supplies of sanitary goods have been furnished to the hospitals. 

and of vegetables to the troops, eliciting the warmest expressions of 

gratitude. 

lu a letter of Mr. Plattenburg, dated March 4tlj, IStii, he says: 

"Tlie vegetables sent by the Commission were issued directly to 

the soldiers, and a more thankful and pleased set of men has not been 

seen since the war." 



97 

This was at a time of great scarcity of vegetable food, and when 
the scurvy was making" its appearance among the troops. 

During the recent winter, supplies have also been furnished to the 
gunboats, and to the naval hospital steamer, "Red Rover." Among the 
goods sent were seventy-five libraries of books, one for each^boat in the 
flotilla, and seventy-five sanitary store chests to the same number of 
vessels, each chest containing- a good^supply of hospital clothing, band- 
ages, lint, adhesive plaster, condensed milk, farina, and other articles 
useful to the sick. 

On the return of the veteran regiments of Missouri troops, on fur- 
lough, to return to the war for another three years, they have been 
received with a generous hospitality by the city of St. Louis, pi'ovided 
for at Turners' Hall, and escorted through the city by the Home Guards, 
with marked honor. Whenever they have needed any thing from the 
Sanitary Commission, as they went back to the army, it has been freely 
given. The veterans of Hlinois, Iowa, and other States, have been 
treated in like manner, as regards their sanitary wants. 

The 33d Illinois infantry, which had been stationed in Texas, and 
re-enlisted as veterans, on returning from their furlough, received from 
the Commission a sanitary chest, filled with excellent stores. Tlic 
following acknowledgment was afterwards received, in which there 
are some of the reminiscences ot the siege of Yicksburg given : 

'•Headquarters Medical Department U. S. Forces in Texasi ) 
"Fort Esperanza, Matagorda Island, Jan. 15, 1864. [ 

"Rev. J. G. Formax, 

"Sec')-i/ Western Sanitary Commission: 

"My Dear Sir: Your timely supply of sanitary goods has been 
received, and in behalf of our noble soldiers, I would return to tlu; 
Commission our grateful thanks for tliis and many other manifestations 
of kindness and interest in our sick and wounded men. I take pleasure 
in adding my testimony to^that of many others, of the vast amount of 

G 



08 

good the Western Sanitary Commissiou has been instrumental in doing. 
1 vividly remember the last 22d day of May, after the charge upon the 
fortifications of Vicksbnrg. Our division, (Gen. Carr's,) had about 
four hundred badly vrounded men, brought into our division hospital 
on that day. We had been cut off from our base of supplies for over 
two weeks, had fought three successful battles, and had entirely ex- 
hausted all our medical and hospital stores. Our men were brought 
from the battle field with their wiuter clothing on, and in many cases 
their clothing and woolen blankets were saturated with blood, and 
covered with fly-blowo, and we had no change to give them. We 
heard that communication was opened Avith Chickasaw Landing, twelve 
miles distant, and that a U. S. Government boat was there with sup- 
plies. At once, four wagons were sent there, with a request from the 
officer to send us the supplies that were so urgently needed, and the 
necessary papers could be executed afterwards. The wagons returned 
empty, and the men were told that nothing would be issued, unless 
the papers had gone through all the proper channels, and were tied 
witli red tape, which would require several days to accomplish. 

"One of the teamsters remarked to me, that he saw the boat of the 
Western Sanitary Commission, coming up the Yazoo river, as they 
were leaving. Our wagons were sent back, and our situation made 
known to that noble hearted gentleman, A. W. Plattenburg-, agent of 
the Sanitary Commission, who at once loaded them Avitli every thing- 
necessary for the comfort and health of our wounded soldiers, and 
in a few hours a great change was seen in the hospital. 

''The clothing was all changed, good beds were provided, nutritious 
food and proper stimulants prepared ; and, but for this timely aid 
from your Commission, it is probable many of these poor soldiers 
would have died. This is only one instance. I could cite many others 
of a similar character, if time would permit. 

"Go on in your noble efforts to ameliorate the condition of our unfoi*- 
tunate sick and wounded soldiers ; and may God bless your efibrts, 



99 

and put it into the hearts of our loyal peonle to contribute still larger 
means to enable you to accomplish a greater amount of good. 
' ' Yery respectfully, 

"GEORGE P. REX. 

" Surgeon 33d Illinois Infantry, 
" Medical Director U. 8. Forces in Texas." 

A very large shipment of sanitary goods has also been sent this 
winter, to the army of Gen. Banks, on the Red river, and the Com- 
mission is at this date, (May 16th, 1864,) sending forward all the stores 
that can possibly be shipped to the army of Gen. Sherman, at Chatta- 
nooga, Dalton and Tunnel Hill, Georgia, to be j^repared for the care of 
the sick and wounded of his army. Mr. H. E. Collins, its efficient and 
energetic agent, (late CasMer of the Commission,) is at Nashville, 
Tenn., pushing them forward, that no time may be lost, no pains 
spared, to meet any emergency that may arise. He will go on to 
Chattanooga, leaving Mr. Albert Clai^k at Nashville, to attend to future 
shipments. Mr. James Tompkins, another agent of the Commission, is 
now at Chattanooga, and will go forward to the front with his stores as 
soon as he can communicate with the Medical Director. 

Having thus exhibited something of the work of the "Western San- 
itary Commission for the soldiers and sailors of the western armies and 
navy, there are several questions often raised, which may be appro- 
priately answered here: 

It is sometimes asked what need there is of Sanitary Commissions? 
Why don't the Government do this work, and take proper care of the 
soldiers, without depending on voluntaiy contributions? The answer 
is plain. The Government can only act through a system of regula- 
tions, by its authorized agents, who must be governed by prescribed 
rules and limitations, and held to a strict responsibility, or there would 
be no end to the waste and loss and imposition to which it would be 
subjected. Hence the necessity of a fixed ration for the soldier, and 
of supply tables for the hospitals, by which so much can be drawn and 



100 

110 iiioi'e, the amouut of hospital supplies being regulated according" 
to the average number of sick. Thus it will often happen that the 
wants of an army in a time of sickness, or in an unhealthy locality, 
or after a battle, will greatly exceed the supplies on hand; and there 
is no way of meeting these emergencies, except through some such 
instrumentality as the Sanitary Commission. 

In the army ration there is a deficiency of vegetable food. The amount 
of potatoes, for instance, to each ration, is not one-quarter of what 
would be a sufficient supply for a well man at home. In the hospitals 
it will barely answer for the hash that is given for breakfixst, three 
times a week ; and very often the proportion allowed to the well sol- 
dier is not given him, because the commissary has none. Sometimes 
for weeks and months, in the field, the regiments will receive no pota- 
toes; and onions and other vegetables (still more rarely allowed) will 
be wanting. Such a want of vegetable diet soon engenders scurvy and 
other diseases that incapacitate the men for duty, and destroy life. To 
meet this want, the Western Sanitary Commission has forwarded many 
thousands of bushels of potatoes and onions, and thousands of cans of 
tomatoes, and kegs of pickles, to the army. And besides these supplies 
the surgeons in charge of hospitals make constant requisition for 
articles not furnished by Government, or not in sufficient quantity 
to meet the necessities of their patients. 

Prejudicial stories have been circulated by many -dissatisfied 
and fault-finding persons about the waste and consumption of sani- 
tary stores by officers, accompanied by assertions that what is sent 
never reaches the private soldier. Much harm has been done in this 
way, by suspicious and evil-minded persons, discouraging contributions 
and preventing supplies from being sent to the army. In the early 
part of the war, before this great sanitary work had been reduced to 
a system, instances of waste and theft, and misappropriation of sanitary 
goods did no doubt sometimes occur; but even then they were the 
exception and not the rule. This evil has, however, been constantly 



101 

diminisliing ; i^ersons detected iu it have been disgraced and dismissed 
from the service ; and a greater degree of responsibility has been 
secured, with more ample means of exposure, so that now the mis- 
appi'opriation of sanitary goods can scarcely take place without bring- 
ing disgrace and punishment on tlie parties engaged in it. 

Nevertheless, the impression still pi-evails with many that the private 
soldier ncA^er gets any of the sanitary stores sent to the army, and 
many soldiers themselves, who have received them in their hospital 
diet, and at the Soldiers' Homes, slept in comfortable beds, rested 
upon soft pillows, worn dressing-gowns, and socks, and sMppers, in 
sick wards, and eaten vegetables, fruits, butter and delicacies at their 
meals, (not being informed of the fact) have never known that these 
tilings came from the Sanitary Commissions. 

An interesting illustration of this is mentioned by Rev. Glen "Wood, 
General Agent of the American Tract Society, who has spent much 
time iu the army, in the distribution of reading matter. During a 
visit to a general hospital, which I think he said was at Murfreesboro' 
or Jackson, Tenn., he engaged in conversation with a convalescent 
soldier in one of the wards, who had just finished a letter to his wife. 
The soldier said to him: 

'' I received a letter from my wife, away in Wisconsin, and she 
wi'ites that the Soldiers' Aid Society are getting up some sanitary stores 
to send to us, and that she is helping to make up a nice lot of things. 
I have just written to her, and told her not to do any such thing ; that the 
soldiers never get what is sent to them ; and that the surgeons and stew- 
ards and officers only feast on them, while the common soldiers get none." 

Several of the other soldiers responded to the statement of their 
comrade, "That's so; we never see any sanitary stores here." 

Rev. Mr. Wood said, " My dear sir, I think you must be mistaken. 
I have been through the army a good deal, and have seen a great many 
things received by the soldiers that were sent from home, through the 
Sanitary Commissions, and otherwise." 



102 

He continued, addressing the first spealiei-, " 1 see yon have on a 
comfortable dressing-gown, and socks and slippers, and clean sheets, 
and a pillow on yonr bed ; where did you get those tilings from ?" 

*'Well," said the soldier, ''I reckon Uncle Sam fitted up this hos- 
pital, and these here articles came from the linen room." 

Mr. "Wood remarked again, " I noticed at dinner that you had pota- 
toes, and pickles, and onions, and butter, and di'ied fruit, and tomatoes; 
where did you get these things from ?" 

" O," said the former speaker again, " I reckon Uncle Sam provided 
'em, or may be they were bought with the hospital fund." 

" But," says Mr. AVood, " such things can scarcely be bought here 
for love or money. I don't see any in the market, and the sutlers 
ask a great price for them. Suppose we call in the steward, and see 
if he cannot throw some light on this question." 

The steward was then requested to come in, and Mr. "Wood asked 
him if he would be kind enough to state to these men where most of 
the articles of hospital clothing that had been mentioned, and the butter 
and fruit and vegetables, and other delicacies on the table, had come from. 

" Why, boys," said the steward, " didn't you know we got those 
things from the Sanitary Commission ?" 

Instantly the men dropped their heads in some confusion, and the 
first speaker replied, ''No, sir, we didn't know it. Why didn't you 
tell us, and we shouldn't have said what we did to this gentleman. I 
hope he will excuse our mistake. As for mo, I'm going to tear up 
my letter to my wife, (tearing it in pieces) and Avrite her another, 
and tell her to go ahead with them sanitary stores, and right glad we 
shall be to get them." 

The men seemed much pleased with this turn of affairs, and Mr. 
Wood left them, having made a most salutary impression, and giving 
them all the reading matter they wished. 

There is no doubt that much harm has been done, by letters from 
men who are naturally croakers and fault-finders, in discouraging 



103 

contributions to tlie Sanitary Commissions. The well soldier, who 
has always enjoyed his health, ought not, of course, to receive the 
delicacies and comforts designed only for the sick, and for hospital 
use. The vegetables distributed by the Commission he eats, without 
inquiring where they came from, and writes home that he has never 
received any thing from the Sanitary Commission. 

The following method was adopted by Surgeon Charles H. Hughes, 
1st Missouri State Militia, to cure one of these croakers of his fault- 
tinding spirit. Surgeon Hughes stands very high in the esteem of 
those who know him, and his statement is woi-thy of all credit. He 
says in a letter to the Secretary, from De Soto, Mo., May 2d, 1864, 
acknowledging the receipt of sanitary stores : 

'* I will tell you how I cured a croaker in the St. Louis Hickory 
street hospital once. He said the steward got half the things sent by 
the Sanitary Commission. I took every thing from him, for a week, 
which had been furnished him by the Commission, his pocket comb, 
pocket handkerchief, slippers, socks, and gown, and reading matter. 
I deprived him of the looking-glass, feather pillow, and comforts, 
and, for the two latter, gave him a hard, hair pillow and Government 
blanket, and let liim take liis meals at a separate table, on the rations 
furnished by the commissary, and bought out of the fund. After that 
he croaked about the parsimony of Uncle Sam, and I put him in the 
guard-house. When he rejoined his company he was effectually cured. 

" Much wrong has been done to the Sanitary cause, and to medical 
officers in the service, by the letters of these croakers. People are 
foolish enough to believe them, not knowing that the things which are 
usually sent to, and relished by the sick, are unwholesome, oftentimes, 
to the stomach of a healthy man, because they vitiate his appetite for 
the more substantial food which he most needs. A physician seldom 
indulges in sweetmeats, and the wearing apparel, hospital clothing, 
etc., sent by the Commission, always bear a stamp, which would dis- 
grace any one but the legitimate wearer — the patriot soldier." 



104 

A strict accountability is maintained between the Western Sanitary 
Commission and all its agents in the field. Whenever stores are sent 
to the agents, they are forwarded by the United States quartermasters 
as Government freight, and they receipt for them, and are resiionsible 
for their delivery. When delivered to the agents of the Commission 
they receipt to the quartermasters, and the receipted bills of lading 
are returned to the chief quartermaster at St. Louis, and acknowledg- 
ments are also made to the Commission. When sanitary stores are 
distributed to the surgeons for the sick and Avoundcd in hospitals, it 
is done in answer to written requisitions, and their receipts are taken 
and returned to the Commission at St. Louis. Piles of these documents 
are now on file at the Western Sanitary Commission rooms, and it can 
easily be shown what regiments and hospitals have received sanitary 
stores, and the use made of them, by the surgeons and stewards, 
inquired into. 

The following General, Post, and Pegimental hospitals are among 
the number that have been supplied by this Commission: Ncav House 
of Refuge, St. Louis and City hospitals, (Tcueral hospital, (corner of 
Fifth and Chesnut street,) Good Samaritan, Eliot, (Fourth street,) 
Pacific, Hickory street, Jefferson Barracks, Marine, Benton Barracks, 
Lawson and Small-pox hospitals, hospitals in Arnot's and Thornton 
& Pierce's buildings, Schofield Barracks and Military Prison; hospitals 
in Cairo, and Mound City, 111.; at Paducah, and Columbus, Ky.; 
Pittsburg Landing, Union City, Jackson, Lagrange, Memphis, Nash- 
ville, and Murfreesboro', Tenn.; Corinth, and Vicksburg, Mississippi ; 
Huntsville, Ala. ; Helena, Clarendon, Bi-ownsville, Duvall's Blufl^, 
Fayetteville, Salem, and Little Kock, Ark. ; Fort Blunt, Cherokee 
Nation; Young's Point, Milliken's Bend, Goodrich's Landing and 
Duckport, La.; hospitals of the Oth, 13th, 14th, Ifjth, 16th, and 17th army 
corps ; and of Quimby's, Hovey's, Steele's, Logan's, McPhei-son's, Her- 
ron's, Kimball's, McArthur'S; and Blair's divisions ; and of Thayer's, 
Irving's, Wilder's, and the Marine brigade ; hospitals at Otterville, Pacific 



105 

City, Eolla, St. Joseph, Sulphur Springs, Sedalia, Tipton, Commerce, 
St. Charles, Ironton, Pilot Kuob; Cape Girardeau, Lebanon, Patterson, 
Jefferson CJity, Kansas City, Springfield, Mo. ; Fort Scott, Fort Leav- 
enworth, Kansas; Fort Halleck, Idaho; Evansville, Ind.; Quincy, 111; 
and Keokuk, Iowa. Many stores Avere also issued to convalescent 
camps, and personally to large numbers of convalescent soldiers. 

Among the regiments supplied, are all the Missouri troops, from 
the 1st to the 37th infantry; from the 1st to the 14th cavalry; Wellfly's 
and the other Missouri batteries of artillery ; Bissell's engineer corps ; 
Benton and Fremont Hussars, and Merrill's and Curtis' Horse; the 
Iowa troops, from the 1st to the 40th regiments of infantry; and the 
1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, oth, 6th, and 9th Iowa cavalry; and the 1st Iowa and 
Dubuque and Dodge's batteries; the 2d, 4th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 
14th, loth, 17th, 18th, 2()th, 2Gth, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32d, 33d, 36th, 
40th, 41st, 42d, 43d, 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th, .53d, .54th, 55th, 56th, 
61st, 62d, 63d, 76th, 77tli, Slst, 87th, 90th, 93d, 94th, 95th, 97th, 99th, 
101st, 103d, 106th, 108th, 111th, 113th, 114th, 116th, 117th, 118th, 122d, 
124th, 12Gth, 127th, 13(»th, 131st, 145th, and 147th Illinois infantry; 
the 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and lOth Illinois cavalry ; and Peoria, Mercan- 
tile, Board of Trade, Taylor's, and 1st Illinois batteries; the 7th, 
8th, 11th, 12th, 16th 18th, 23d, 24th, 25th, 34th, 39th, 43d, 47th, 48th, 
49th, 53d, 54th, .56th, 59th, 60th, 67th, 72d, 83d, 93d, 96th, 97th, 99th, 
and 100th Indiana infantry; Coggswcirs 1st Indiana battery; and the 
1st Indiana cavalry; the 1st, 16th, 20th, 22d, 30th, 32d, 36th, 37th, 42d, 
46th, 47th, 48th, 53d, 54th, 55tli, 56th, 57th, 58th, 68th, 70th, 72d, 76th, 
77th, 78th, 80th, 83d, 95th, 96th, 114th, and 120th Ohio infantry ; 5th 
Ohio cavalry; and the 2d, 4th, 8th, 11th, 16th, and 26th Ohio batter- 
ies; the 1st, 2d, 6th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 23d, 
25th, 27th, 28th, 29th, 32d, 33d, and 41st AVisconsin infantry ; 12th 
Wisconsin battery; and 1st, 2d, and 3d Wisconsin cavalry; the 2d, 
7th, 8th, 12th, 15th, 20th, and 27th Michigan infantry ; and 2d and 3d 
Michigan cavalry; the 3d, 4th, 5th, 11th, and 17th Minnesota infan- 



106 

try; and 1st Minnesota battery; the 1st, 2d, 5th, lOth, llth,'and 
13tli Kansas infantry; and 1st and^5th Kansas cavalry ; the 1st Ai'- 
kansas, (Avhite), 1st, 2d, 3d, and 4th'"Arkansas colored infantry; and 
the 1st, 3d, and 1th Arkansas cavah-y ; the 5th Maine infaniry ; the 
11th New Hampshire infantry ; the 32d Massachusetts infantry ; the 
17th and 178th "New York infantry ; the 31th and 35th New Jersey 
infantry ; and 2d New Jersey cavalry ; the 45th Pennsylvania infantry ; 
the 4th Virginia infantry; the 7th, 19th, and 22d Kentucky infantry; 
the 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th Louisiana colored infantry; the 1st, 
2d, 3d, 4th, and 6th, Mississippi colored infantry; and 1st Mississippi 
colored cavalry ; the 13th^United States regular arni)^ ; and the 48th, 
49th, 51st, 58th, and 59th United States colored infantry ; and 2d 
and^6th United States colored artillery. 

The hospital steamers supi)lied by the Western Sanitary Commission, 
are the " City of Louisiana,''^ afterwards refitted and named the "i?. C 
Wood,'' the "D. A. January," the " J^mpress," the ^'Imperial,'" the 
'^Red Rover,'" the "City of Alton," the "City of Memphis," the 
"Nashville ;" and of the transports, conveying the sick and wound- 
ed, the "Ruth," the "Glasgow," the "Diana," the "Nebraska," and 
the "Baltic" 

Of the gunboats of the Mississippi naval squadron, supplies have 
been sent to nearly all, among which the following may be named : 
the Louisville, Mound City, Carondelet, Chillicothe, Jxidye Torrence, 
Lafayette, Naumkeacj , Ratler, Autocrat, Black Hawk, Petrel, Gen- 
eral Price, Romeo, Choctaw, Benton, Avenger, Tyler, Monarch, 
Switzerland, Paw2Jaw, Tawha, Key West, and No. 11, tliere being 
many more, to whom contributions have been sent quite reccntlj^, 
including the whole Mississippi squadron. 

In concluding the present chapter, it is deemed an appropriate place 
to mention the names of those female nurses, who, by long and faithful 
service, and special devotion to the care of the sick and wounded sol- 
diers, in the St. Louis hospitals, have earned the gratitude of the West- 



107 

crn Sanitary Commission, and of those who have been the objects ol 
their kind solicitude and self-sacrificing labors. In giving this list of 
honored names, it is not improbable that some will be omitted, who 
deserve a jilace in it, for it is made np nnder many disadvantages, 
and without all the means of a careful examination. It is also to be 
regretted that the Christian names of some are not within the knowledge 
of the writer, and cannot be easily obtained. The list is as follows : Mrs. 
M. I. Ballard, Mrs. E. O. Gibson, Mrs. L. D. Aldrich, Mrs. Houghton, 
Mrs. S. A. Plummer, Miss Carrie C. McNair, Mrs. Harriet Colfax, Mrs. 
Sarah A. Barton, Miss Ida Johnson, Miss Clark, [Miss A. L. Ostram, 
Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, Mrs. Olive Freeman, Mrs. Anne M. Shattuck, 
Mrs. E. C. Brendell, Mrs. E. J. Morris, Mrs. Dorothea Ogden, Mrs. E. 
C. AVitherell, Miss N. A. Shepherd, the Sisters of Charity at the New 
House of Eefuge Hospital, Miss Emma L. Ingalls, Miss Emily E. Par- 
sons, Miss Fanny Marshall, Miss Louisa Maertz, Miss Harriet N. Phil- 
lips, Mrs. Elizabeth A. Nichols, Miss Eebecca Craighead, Mrs. H. A. 
Haiues, Mrs. H. A. Rcid, Miss Hattie Wiswall, Mrs. Reese, Mrs. Maria 
Brooks, Mrs. Mary Allen, Mrs. Bickerdike, Miss Cornelia M. Tomp- 
kins, Mrs. M. A. Steller, Mrs. Carrie Gray, Mrs. M. J. Dykman, 
IVIisses Marian and Clara McClintock, Mrs. Otis, Mrs. Sager, Mrs. Pea- 
body, Mrs. Rebecca S. Smith, Miss Melcenia Elliott, Mrs. C. C. Hagar, 
Mrs. J. E. Hickox, Mrs. Lucy L. Campbell, Miss C. A. Harwood, Miss 
Deborah Daugherty, Miss Phebe Allen, Mrs. Wells, Mrs. Ferris, and 
Miss Lucy J. Bissell. 

Of these honored women, Mrs. E. C. Witherell laid down her life in 
this service. She had served very faithfully in the Eliot Hospital, St. 
Louis, for many months, and was alwajs most gentle, kind, and 
unremitting in her attention to the sick and wounded. In the spring 
of 1862, she was transferred to the hospital steamer ^' Empress, ^^ as 
matron, and continued on her till the next July, when, on the 10th 
of the month she died, a victim of fever, contracted in performing the 
arduous duties of a nurse. The Western Sanitary Commission passed 



108 

a preamble and i-esolutious, commemorative of her virtues, in which 
she was mentioned as one who was ''gentle and unobtrusive, with a 
heart warm with sympathy, and unshrinking in the discharge of duty, 
energetic, untiring, ready to answer every call, and unwilling to 
spare herself where she could alleviate suffering, or minister to the 
comfort of others." In self-sacrifice and devotion to duty she was 
regarded as " not a whit behind the bravest hero on the battle field," 
giving, as she did, her life for her country and humanity. 

If the history of the present war shall ever be faithfully written, it 
Avill contain many touching incidents of woman's heroism, and a noble 
record of the inestimable services rendered by her, in the hospitals 
of the army, living in an impure atmosphere, amid scenes of suffering 
and death, that the soldiers of the Union may be gently nursed and 
cared for, and sent forth again to do battle for a righteous cause. A 
young woman is now present to the mind of the wi'iter, and her name 
is in the foregoing list, who came from her country home, in Iowa, a 
volunteer to nurse her country's defenders, among whom were all of 
her own brothers, who were old enough to fight. She had education, 
sti'ength, and a holy resolution to undertake the hardest service she 
could find. For months she served in the hospitals of Tennessee, went 
home alone in charge of the corpse of a neighbor of her father's, who 
had died in the hospital at Memphis, returned to St. Louis, and when, 
in one of the large hospitals, a volunteer was called for, to serve in the 
erysipelas ward, a position of danger and of trying service, while 
others were reluctant, she made a ready and willing offer of herself, 
was accepted, and spent months in the cheerful performance of her 
duty there, without a murmur or comxjlaint. She is still filling a 
position of arduous service and much responsibility, and may occa- 
sionally be seen, leading a blind soldier, in his visits to the surgeon, 
for the treatment of his eyes, taking delight in every opportunity of 
doing good to those who are giving their lives for their country. 

Another one we also knew, whose name is likewise in this simple 



109 

record, who, at Helena, Ark., iu the fall and winter of 1862-3, was 
almost the only female nnrse in the hospitals there, going from one 
building- to another, in which the sick were quartered, when the streets 
were almost impassable with mud, administering sanitary stores, and 
making- delicate preparations of food, spending- her own money in pro- 
curing milk and other articles that were scarce and difficult to obtain, 
and doing an amount of work which few persons could sustain, living- 
without the pleasant society to which she had been accustomed at 
home, never murmuring:, always cheerful and kind, preserving in the 
midst of a military camp such gentleness, strength, and purity of char- 
acter, that all rudeness of speech ceased in her presence, and, as she 
went from room to room, she was received with silent benedictions, 
or an audible '^ God bless you, dear lady, for your kindness to me," 
from some poor sufferer's heart. 

"VYhen such women are willing to leave their pleasant homes, and 
forsake almost every comfort, for such a service, and in such a cause, 
there is still hope for the land of their birth ; for while virtue and 
self-sacrifice remain, the cause of liberty and free government cannot 
perish from the earth, but must grow stronger and more triumphant 
with every conflict, as ages roll away. 



CHAPTER X . 



The Freedmen of the Mississippi— First Efforts for their Relief at Helena — 
Miss Maria R. Mann— Mr. Yeatman's Visits to the freedmen, from Island 
No. 10 to Natchez— Chaplain H. D. Fisher detailed as an Agent of the 
Commission to make an Appeal for Aid in New England— Generous Con- 
tributions received— Mr. Yeatman's Report— Condition of the Freedmen — 
The Subject Presented to the Attention of the Government — Mr. W. P. 
Mellen and Mr. Yeatman return to carry into Effect an Improved System 
OF Leasing the Abandoned Plantations, and of securing Better Wages to 
THE Laborers — Second Visit to Washington— Military Protection Given — 
National and other Freedmen's Relief Associations-Messrs. Marsh and 
Foster go to Vicksburg as Agents — Teachers sent — Death of one of the 
Number — Four thousand five hundred Freedmen arrive with the Return 
of Gen. Sherman's Army from Meridian — Their Condition— Aid Given — 
Union Refugees of the Mississippi Valley — Refugee Home at St. Louis — 
Refugees at Pilot Knob— Labors of Superintendent A. Wright— Refugee 
Home at Vicksburg — School for Refugee Children. 



Incidental to its great work of ministering to tlie sick and wounded 
of the Western armies and navy, and of promoting the health and en- 
ergy of our soldiers in the field, the Western Sanitary Commission has 
felt itself called to devote a portion of its labors to the relief of forty 
thousand freedmen, along the banks of the Mississippi river, from 
Columbus, Ky., to Natchez, many of whom, in their transition from the 
ownership and control of slave masters, to the condition of freedmen, 
have suffered untold hardships and privations, in a country stripped by 
the ravages of war, with no demand for labor, except in a few favored 
localities, nor any means of providing for their most urgent wants, food, 
clothing, and shelter. Seeing in them the victims of a life-long oppres- 
sion, thrown destitute and almost naked upon the tender mercies of our 
armies in the field, many of them dying of exposure, hardship, and dis- 
ease, the members of the AVestern Commission could not turn a deaf 
ear to their silent appeals for assistance and Christian sympathy. 

Their attention was first called to the sufferings of these people at 



Ill 

Helena, in the beginning of tlie winter of 1862-3, where there were 
between three and four thousand, men, women and children, part of 
them living in a place back of the town, established for them, by Gen. 
C. C. 'Washburne, the previous summer, called " Camp Ethiopia," in j 
the condemned and cast-off tents of the army, and in caves and shelters 
of brush — the best arrangement that could be made at the time, but 
wholly insufficient for winter. Others dwelt in the poorer houses of 
the town, sixteen and twenty persons occupying the same room, and 
others still in the feAV huts that remained on the neighboring planta- 
tions. The able-bodied men had been worked very hard on the fortifi- 
cations of the place, and by the quartermasters, in unloading coal from 
barges and freight from steamboats, and also as grave-diggers, team- 
sters and wood choppers, and in all manner of fatigue duty. For these 
services many of them never received any compensatioii, through the 
neglect of the officers, having them in charge, to keep proper pay rolls, 
and the indifference of several of the military commanders, immedi- 
ately succeeding Maj. Gen. Curtis. At one time an order was issued 
forbidding their payment, on the ground that their masters would have 
a claim against the Government for their services. All the while they 
were compelled to do most of the hard work of the j)lace, and press- 
gangs were sent out to take them in the streets and put them to work, 
sometimes by night as well as by day, taking no account of their names 
or labor, and dismissing them without compensation. Sometimes they 
were shot down, and murdered with impunity. 

Under such circumstances they were not able to provide for their 
families, and rations had to be drawn for them from the Government. 
Herded together as they were, in camps and the poorest dwellings, it was 
no wonder that they sickened and died at a fearful rate. The writer of 
this, who was then on duty at Helena, has seen the streets patroled by 
mounted orderlies, to gather up the "contrabands," as they were called, \ 
for forced labor, while their women and children were driven from their 
little houses, to Camp Ethiopa, under an arbitrary military rule, with 



112 

a view of expelling them from the town ; and there being no additional 
shelter at the camp, they had to suiTer there, till the order became par- 
tially a dead letter, by reason of its inhnmanity. A military order was 
as one time issued, to carry them beyond the lines, under which many 
of them were delivered up to rebel masters, in violation of the Articles 
of War. With hundreds of sick, their only hospital was a small build- 
ing, not sufficient for the care of twenty persons. 

It was under these circumstances, that the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission, early in January, 1863, sent to Helena, that excellent and 
philanthropic woman, Miss Maria R. Mann, with a large supply of 
sanitary stores, clothing, hospital goods, furniture, stove, &c., to fit up 
a better hospital for the sick of this class, and to minister generally to 
their wants. 

At this time. Rev. Samuel Sawyer, chaplain of the 47 th Indiana in- 
fantry, and Rev. J. G. Forman, chaplain of the 3d Missouri infantry, 
both of them on detached service at Helena, were doing what the}" 
could for these poor people, and welcomed the arrival of Miss Mann 
with gi'eat satisfaction. Mr. Y. secured rooms for her and her stores in the 
same house occupied by himself and others, and the work of ameliora- 
tion was immediately commenced. The hospital was soon renovated; 
and a month or two later, on the removal of a portion of the army, a 
larger and better building was obtained, when the sick of the freed 
people were better situated, and army surgeons were detailed to attend 
them. It was now known that a change of policy towards the emanci- 
pated people had been inaugurated by the Government. Adjutant 
General Thomas was on his way to look after these people, and organ- 
ize regiments of fighting men from them, and the military commanders 
became more willing to grant favors in their behalf. 

In the Spring a splendid regiment of the 1st Arkansas infantry, A. D., 
was recruited in a few days, commanded by Col. AYm. F. Wood, iind a 
second was commenced. Miss Mann remained till the following Au- 
gust, performing a great amount of useful service to the wives and 



113 

children of these men, giving clothing to the poor and needy, selling to 
those who had money to buy with, and replenishing her stock with the 
proceeds ; teaching women to cut and make their own garments, provid- 
ing medicines for the sick, visiting them in their camps and dwellings, 
giAdng them excellent advice, and in every i)ossible way imjiroving their 
condition. 

Her labors there were also sustained by friends in New England, with 
whom she was in corresiiondence, and several thousand dollars worth 
of clothing, material for clothing, medicines, etc., were used by her in 
the most judicious manner, Rev. Dr. Eliot, at St. Louis, acting for 
the Commission, as Treasurer of a special fund for this purpose, contri- 
buted mostly by humane people in New England. Eev. Jonathan E. 
Thomas, chaplain 56th Ohio infantrj^, was also detailed to assif^t in this 
work, and his humanity and kindness to the poor •' contrabands," as 
well as the faithful service of Rev. Mr. Sawyer, and the devoted labors 
of Miss Mann, Avill long be remembered by them, and by the writer of 
this sketch, who was providentially associated with them, for a time, in 
their bencA^oIent work. It is due to Major Generals S. R. Curtis, C. C. 
Washburne, and Prentiss, who were in command at Helena for a brief 
period, to say that it was not during their administration of aftairs that 
the evils here narrated occurred, and that they were always readj^ to do 
whatever was in their power, for the amelioration of the condition of the 
colored people at that i)ost. 

During the month of October, '(!3, the condition of the freed people, 
along the Mississippi river, again enlisted the earnest consideration of 
the Western Sanitary Commission. The same state of things that had 
existed at Helena, was reported as existing at many other points, be- 
tween Columbus, Kentucky, and Natchez, chiefly the result of neglect, 
inability to procure remunerative employment, failure of quartermasters 
to enroll and pay the freedmen their wages, and the helpless condition of 
many, in consequence of the taking of the strong and able-bodied men 

H 



114 

for United States soldiers, leaving their wives and cliildren, for a time, 
unprovided for. 

On the 6th of IsTovember the Commission addressed a letter to the 
President of the United States, calling his attention to the condition of 
these people, the necessity of assistance, before another winter should 
set in, and proposing to assume the labor of soliciting contributions 
and extending relief, as an incidental iJart of its work. The proposal 
was favorably regarded, assurances were given by the Secretary of 
War that all possible aid would be rendered, in the way of trans- 
portation and otherwise, and, a few weeks later, Mr, Yeatman made 
a special visit down the river, to ascertain and report the actual state of 
things. 

At the same time, Maj. Gen. Schofield, who gave his hearty approval 
and sympathy to the work, detailed, by special order, Chaplain H. D. 
Fisher, of the 5th Kansas Cavalry, to visit New England, under the 
direction of the Commission, and naake a suitable aj^peal for contribu- 
tions for this object. Mr. Fisher's visit was entirely successful, and 
very large contributions of clothing, material for clothing, shoes, and 
other necessary articles, amounting in value to about $30,000, and 
$13,000 in money, were obtained, by a committee in Boston, composed 
of Chas. G. Loring, Chairman, M. S. Scudder, Secretary, Alpheus 
Hardy, Treasurer, A. A. Lawrence, James M. Barnard, Wm. Endi- 
cott, Jr., Edward Atkinson, and sixteen others. These contributions 
came from Boston, Salem and other neighboring towns and cities, to 
whom the appeals of the Western Sanitary Commission have never 
been made in vain. Many valuable boxes of clothing material and 
shoes wei-e sent by the Boston Educational Commission for Freedmen, 
of which Messrs. Barnard, Atkinson and Endicott, of the other com- 
mittee, were also members. 

On the 17th of December, Mr. Yeatman returned from his first visit 
to the freedmen of the lower Mississippi, and made a full report to the 



115 

Commission, of wliich five thousand copies were printed and circulated. 
He stoijped at Island No. 10, at Memphis, Helena, Goodrich's Landing, 
JVIJlIikeu's Bend, Young's Point and Vicksburg, the plantations of Jeff 
and Joe Davis, and at JSTatchez, and returning, visited some of these 
points a second time. 

The report, consisting of sixteen pages of closely printed matter, is so 
full of information that it is impossible to make even an abstract of it 
for this work. It is sufficient to say, that he found about forty thou- 
sand of these people in camps, at the above and other places, between 
Cairo and Natchez, in various degrees of poverty and wretchedness; 
that among them he found several volunteer agents, missionaries, and 
teachers, from the United Presbyterians, the Friends, and the Freed- 
men's Aid Associations, laboring for their benefit as well as they could, 
without sj'stem or co-operation ; that in the cotton growing region, from 
Goodrich's Landing to Vicksburg, on the abandoned plantations, leased 
by the Government, he saw over twenty colored men, and heard of 
others who had raised from five to ten bales of cotton, on their own 
account, proving their capacity for self-maintenance, with a fair chance ; 
that where they were laboring under the lessees their wages were whol- 
ly inadequate, being but five dollars per month for women, and seven 
dollars per month for men, with subsistence of the i)oorest kind; that 
they suffered many wrongs under this system; that wlien they were em- 
ployed by Government Quartermasters, to cut wood for steamboats, they 
were frequently not paid ; that they Avere charged an unreasonable 
pi'ice for goods, and were I'eally suffering wrongs and hardships, equal 
to those they had borne in a state of slavery, while they were enjoying 
none of the blessings of liberty. 

Mr. Yeatman, in his report, thus sets forth some of the wrongs of 
these people: "Within the city of Memphis, not directly connected 
with anj' of the camps, or with the colored regiments, there are some 
three thousand freed men and women, mostly freed men, who are em- 
ployed in various ways, and at various rates of compensation. Those 



110 

employed by Govenimeut, receive but ten dollars per month, wliilc 
many could readily earn from thirty to fifty dollars per month. Those 
thus employed are outside of tiie military organization. 

"To give an instance: One quartermaster told me that he had in his 
employment, a harness maker, to whom he could only pay ten dollars 
per month, while he was paying white men, doing ihe same work, 
forty-five dollars per month; and that the colored man could readily 
procure the same wages, were he allowed to seek a market for his labor 
in the same town. I saw a number of colored men pressed into service, 
(not military,) to labor at the rate of ten dollars per month, one of 
whom petitioned to be released, as he had a good situation at thirty 
dollars per month. The firemen on the steamboat on which I was a 
passenger from St. Louis to Memphis, were all colored, and were re- 
ceiving forty-five dollars per month. These men were afraid to go ashore 
at Memphis, for fear of being picked up and forced into Govei*nment 
employment, at less than one-fourth their existing wages. 

"Besides the fact that men are thus pressed into service, thousands 
have been employed for weeks and months, who have ncA^er received 
any thing but promises to pay. This negligence and failure to comply 
Avith obligations, have greatly disheartened the poor slave, who comes 
forth at the call of the President, and supposes himself a free man, and 
that, by leaving his rebel master, he is inflicting a blow on the enemy, 
ceasing to labor and to provide food for him and for the armies of the 
rebellion. Thus he was i^romised freedom, but how is it with him ? 
He is seized in the street, and ordered to go and help unload a steam- 
boat, for which he will be paid, or sent to work in the trenches, or to 
labor for some quartermaster, or to chop wood for the Government. 
He labors for months, and at last is only paid with promises, unless 
perchance it may be with kicks, cufts, and curses. 

"Under such treatment, he feels that he has exchanged one master 
for many masters ; these continued abuses sadden and dejiress him, and 
he sighs to return to Ms former home and master. He, at least, fed, 



117 

clothed, and sheltered hiin. Something- should be done, and I doubt 
not, will be done, to correct these terrible abuses, when the proper 
authorities are made to comprehend them. The President's proclama- 
tion should not thus be made a living lie, as the Declaration of In- 
dependence has too long- been, in asserting the inalienable rights 
of man, while the nation continued to hold millions of human beings 
in bondage." 

In another place he says : 

" The poor negroes are everywhere greatly depressed at their con- 
dition. They all testify that if they were only paid their little wages as 
they earn them, so that they could purchase clothing, and were furnished 
with the provisions promised, they could stand it; but to work and get 
poorl)^ j)aid, poorly fed, and not doctored when sick, is more than they 
can endure. Among the thousands whom I questioned, none showed 
the least unwillingness to work. If they could only be paid fair wages, 
they would be contented and happy. They do not realize that they are 
free men. They say that they are told they are, but then they ai-e taken 
and hired out to men who treat them, so far as providing for them is 
concerned, far woi'se than their " secesh" masters did. Besides this they 
feel that their pay or hire is lower now than it was when the " secesh" 
used to hire them. This is true." 

And yet, under all their accumulated wrongs, these people manifest a 
wonderful faith in Divine Providence ; they seem to be sensible that God 
has some better thing in store for them, and to realize that, through this 
wilderness of suffering and sorrow is the only path to their deliverance. 
Mrs. Porter, at Camp Holly Spring, near Memphis, related to Mr. 
Yeatman an instance of this. AV^hen she first went there to teach, an 
old negro came out to meet her, Avhose head had been whitened by the 
frosts of ninety winters, and who was almost blind, supporting himself by 
his staff. With his hand stretched forth he accosted her, saying, " Well, 
you hab come at las'. I'se been 'spectin' you, lookin' for you, for de 
las' twenty years. I knowed you would come, and now I rejoice." She 



118 

said, "I have come to teach you." "Yes, yes, I know it, and I tank 
de Lord." 

At this same camp Mr. Yealman saw a colored man, who, after his 
return from his work, was seated in liis cabin, surrounded by his own 
children and a few others from the adjoining cabins, teaching them their 
lessons for the morrow. At another school he met an old woman, aged 
eighty-five, who was intent on her books. "When asked if she was not 
too old to begin to learn, she said, " No," that she must learn now or 
not at all, as she had but little time left, and she must make the most of 
it. When asked what good it would do her, she said ''she could read 
de bible, and teach de j'oung." At other places similar instances of 
faith and piety, and the desire of knowledge, were witnessed. 

Mr. Yeatman was most favorably impressed with the capacity of the 
negroes to become soldiers. He gives an account of several successful 
expeditions, under Col. Farrar, at Natchez, in which they brought 
in prisoners. In one instance he says, " The prisoners were much 
chagrined at being taken by negroes, and asked if they could not have 
another guard to take them through town ; but as they were captured 
by negroes, they had to be guarded and escoi-ted by them." 

He saj'S of another experience he had, " In going from Goodrich's 
Landing to Millikeu's Bend, I was escorted by twenty colored troops, 
mounted on mules captured from the enemy. They rode gallantly and 
fearlessly, putting our their advance guard and arranging themselves 
in true military order, conducting themselves with as much propriety 
as an equal number of well behaved gentlemen. "When we arrived at 
the Bend, and dashed into the fort, surrounded by troops, my com- 
panion — Dr. May — and myself, dressed in citizen's clothes, and mounted 
in an old wagon, were taken for prisoners, and our escort was called 
out to by the soldiers, "Rebs! Rebs!" and an amount of ivory dis- 
played that I have seldom seen exceeded. 

"I could but compai-e my first visit to this point years ago, when I 
landed to take chai'ge of a large estate, as executor, with my present 



319 

one. It Tvas here in these swamps that I first saw and knew what a dead, 
leaden thing slavery is, and the wrong- and injustice which could be 
inflicted, even by one, considered the kindest and most humane of mas- 
ters. I doubt not the seed was then sown in my heart which has since 
germinated, and makes me now not only willing, but anxious to labor 
for these poor sons of toil. What a revolution a few short years has 
brought about! Who can doubt that au infinitely wise and just God 
governs the world?" 

On submitting his report to the Commission, Mr. Yeatman was dele- 
gated to visit Washington, and present this subject to the Government. 
In doing so, he also jpresented a series of printed "suggestions of a i)lan 
of organization for freed labor and the leasing of plantations along the 
Mississippi river." His report and suggestions w^ere most favorably 
received at Washington, and he was urged and authorized to accom- 
pany Mr. W. P. Mellen, the si^ecial supervising agent of the Treasury 
Department, to Vicksburg, to mature and carry them into effect. This 
trust of the Government he accepted, as a voluntary work, dechning 
an of&cial position, which was offered Mm; and he proceeded a second 
time, now in compau)^ with Mr. Mellen, to the region of the leased 
plantations, near Yicksburg. 

The new plan of labor — in view of the high price of cotton, and 
the profit to be derived from its cultiA^ation — provided that the freed- 
men should receive from $12 to $25 a month, according to age, sex, 
ability, etc. ; that there should be a secure method of enforcing the 
contract for labor and wages ; that the lessee should furnish goods at an 
advance of ten j)er cent, on the cost ; that there should be established 
"Home Farms," under a superintendent, for the young and old, the 
infirm and destitute; that there should be schools and teachers, for 
all children under twelve years old; and that a tax should be paid to 
the Government of four dollars, on each bale of cotton raised, and of 
two cents per pound, for the support of the "Home Farms," and 
the schools; and that the system should be carried out by commie- 



120 

sioners of plantations, acting under the Treasury Department, who 
should see that justice is administered ; that the freed people are treated 
as free, and encouraged to respect and observe the institutions of 
religion, marriage, and all the customs of virtuous and civilized 
society, and to become worthy of the blessings of a Christian civ- 
ilization. 

On their way down the river, Messrs. Mellen and Yeatnian had a new 
form of lease, and printed regulations prepared at Memphis, and on ar- 
riving at Vicksburg, inaugurated the new order of things. At first it 
met with some opposition from the old lessees, who saw in it a diminu- 
tion of their gains ; but seeing that it Avas promulgated with authority, 
it was acquiesced in, local agents were appointed, and about six hundred 
plantations were immediately leased, under the new system. 

The withdrawal of the troops, from some of the districts, had caused 
considerable discouragement at first, but on a second visit of Messrs. 
Mellen and Yeatman to Washington, the Secretary of War was induced 
to give the services of the Marine Brigade, for the purpose of affording 
protection to the plantations and freed people; and the work of growing 
cotton, the present year, is already progressing Avith satisfaction to all 
concerned, with a great improvement in the prospects of the laborers, 
and their ultimate success as independent cultivators of the soil ; for 
the more intelligent of them do not fail to see the advantages of pos- 
sessing land of their own, and are ambitious to work for themselves, 
instead of a master. In almost every instance Avhere they attempted, 
last year, to cultivate cotton, on their own account, they were entirely 
successful, luimerous instances of which Mr. Yeatman gave in his pub- 
lished report. 

While these changes were being effected, a National Freedmen's 
Relief Association had been organized in New York city, and a North- 
western Freedmen's Relief Commission at Chicago, besides Avhich there 
were two similar associations already existing at Cincinnati, and another 
was formed at Indianapolis, Plarmonious relations Avcre at once estab- 



121 

lished between these Associations and the Western Sanitary Commission. 

On the 11th December, Messrs. Wm. L. Marsh and H.R. Foster, from 
the National Freedmeu's Belief Association of New York, ari'ived at St. 
Louis, with a letter of introduction from Hon. F. G. Shaw, the Presi- 
dent of the Association, on their way to Vicksburg, to establish an 
agency there, for the distribution of goods to the needy, the sale of them 
to those who could pay, and for the emploj'ment of teachers to instruct 
the peoiile. Mr. Yeatman was at the time down the river; but these 
gentlemen, seeing the advantages of co-operation and unity of purpose, 
consented to act also as agents of the Western Sanitary Commission, 
and thereby secured an arrangement for the re-shipment of their goods 
from St. Louis to Vicksburg, which they were expecting from New 
York, and the Commission also secured the benefit of their valuable 
services, as agents in the field. 

Very large shipments of clothing soon began to arrive from New 
York, directed to Mr. Marsh, and were forwarded with shipments from 
the Western Sanitary Commission, at the earliest period. They were 
unfortunately delayed several weeks by the severe cold of December 
and January, which closed the navigation for awhile, but were ulti- 
mately received, and accomplished great good. Of the proceeds of the 
goods sold by these gentlemen, on account of the AVestern Sanitary 
Commission, they have returned $1000. Their services have been in 
every respect most useful and satisfactory, and have been extended to 
Natchez, and other places besides Vicksburg. 

During the winter they wrote to the Commission to send them two 
teachers, to assist in the work of instruction and distribution at Vicks- 
burg. Miss A. M. Knight, of Sun Prairie, Wis., and Miss Sarah J. 
Hagar, of this city, were commissioned, and their services have been 
very acceptable and useful. In February, Mrs. Lydia H. Daggett, of 
Boston, a very excellent and capable person, was sent into the same 
field, to act under the direction of Mr. Marsh. 

Within a few days, the friends of Miss Hagar have been pained to 



122 

receive the news of her unexpected death, at Vicksburg, from a sudden 
attack of disease. She was a devoted and estimable young woman. 
It is due to her memory, that the following letter, from Mr. Marsh, 
should have a place here, since she died in the service of the Commis- 
sion, and in so good a cause. 

"Natchez, 3Iay 6, 186-1. 
" Rev. J. G. FoRMAN, 

"Sec'ry Western Sanitary Commission: 

"Mr Dear Sir — You have already received from Mr. Mann, the sad 
intelligence of the death of Miss Hagar, one of the teachers sent by 
you, to labor among the freed people in this valley. 

" I was at Natchez when she was taken ill, and did not receive 
intelligence of it in time to reach Vicksburg, until after her death, 
which occurred on Tuesday, May 3d. 

"In her death, the Association have lost a most earnest, devoted 
and Christian laborer. She entered upon her duties at a time of great 
suffering and destitution, among the freedmen, at Vicksburg, and when 
we were much in need of aid. The fidelity with which she performed 
her labors, and the deep interest she manifested in them, soon endeared 
her to us all. "VYe shall miss her sorely; but the noble example she 
has left us, will encourage us to greater efibrts and more patient toil. 
She seemed to realize the magnitude and importance of the work upon 
which she had entered, and the need of Divine assistance, in its per- 
formance. She seemed also to realize what sacrifice might be demand- 
ed of one engaged in a work like this, and the summons, although sud- 
den, did not find her unprepared to meet it. She has done a noble 
work, and done it well. The sacrifice she made, is the greatest one 
that can be made for any cause, the sacrifice of life. 'Greater love 
than this, hath no man; that a man lay down his life for his friends.' 
She has gone to receive her reward. 

"The family thus suddenly bereaved, and jilunged in affliction, by 
this sad occurrence, has our sympathies and pi-ayers. When they meet 



123 

to perform the last sad rites due to the dead, may they not look iu the 

close, narrow, burial-case for their loved one, but rather raise their eyes 

to behold a spirit, freed from earthly fetters, clothed in spotless robes, 

and wearing the crown bestowed only upon those who prove faithful 

to the end. Respectfully, 

" W. L. MARSH." 

Besides the labors of Messrs. Marsh and Foster at Vicksburg, the 
regular agent of the Commission, Mr. N. M. Mann, has taken a deep 
interest in the same work, and though much occupied in the superin- 
tendence of the Soldiers' Home, and the care of the refugees, he has 
found time to lend a helping hand. An interesting letter was received 
from him, dated the 7th of March, in which he gives a full account of 
the arrival of the four thousand five hundred freedmen, who returned 
with Gen'l Sherman's Army, from Meridian, and of his distributions of 
food and clothing among them. "Anticipating a need," he says, "I 
had drawn heavily on the Commissary for bread and had a large amount 
on hand. I had the ambulance of the Western Sanitary Commission 
loaded with this bread, and taking along half a dozen kind-hearted 
soldiers, we went the whole length of this wagon train and gave to each 
family a loaf or two. It was but a little thing to do, but the eagerness 
with which they took and ate it told how grateful it was to them. I 
assure you I never was more happy than that night, amid all that 
wretchedness, giving bread to those hungry creatures. That night they 
lay on the levee, in their wagons, and on the ground. Many who came 
from plantations tliis side of Jackson were without conveyances, having 
walked in, bearing their "effects" on their heads. The next morning 
tliey were sent on Steamboats to camps at Da^ds' Bend, and Oswego 
Landing, and in company with Mrs. Harvey, of Wisconsin, and Miss 
Dart, a teacher from New England, I went to Oswego with a quantity 
of old clothing, furnished by the National Freedmen's Relief Associa- 
tion, of New York, for distribution. To all the most destitute, or rather 
the most torn and naked, for all are destitute, we gave some of the 



124 

more necessary articles of clothing. I only wish that the donors of 
those articles could have witnessed the distribution. I do not know 
where on the face of the globe, out of the Southern Confederacy, a 
thousand people could be got together that would present to charity so 
strong an api)eal as these. I wish I could send to every Northern home 
of plenty, a photograph of these bare-footed, ragged, half-naked 
creatures, as they appeared to me that day. They had been fed, and 
although their destitute, filthy, tattered and homeless condition was 
enough to draw tears from a heart of stone, many were cheerful and 
gave evidence that, with a very little comfort, they would be happy. 
The endurance of the negro has always been a marvel. It was neA^er 
so much so as now. It is his difference from the wliite man, in this 
respect, that is to save him, if he is saved, in this great trial." 

The Union refugees have also received a share in the labors of the 
"Western Sanitary Commission. During the fall and winter of 1861-2 
many refugees were driven, by the rebels, from the interior and south- 
Avest parts of Missouri to St. Louis, and Avere in a condition of want and 
suffering. A home, on Elm street, was opened for the most helpless 
and destitute, and others were assisted, according to their necessities. 
Mr. John Cavender, an old and respectable citizen, eminent for Iiis 
integrity and christian character, devoted his Avhole time to their care. 
A fund was raised at first, by a call of the Western Sanitary Commis- 
sion, amounting to about $3,800, besides a large amount of clothing. 
A further sum of |lo,000 was raised by an order of Maj. Gen. Halleck, by 
assessing the Avealtliy class of secessionists, in St. Louis, for this object, 
and from this resource Mr. Cavender was able to render very important 
aid to these persecuted and destitute people. For two years he took 
almost the entire charge of this work, in Avhich he had the counsel ol 
the members of the Commission, and was sometimes aided with 
funds for the purpose, Avhen other sources failed. During the Avintor 
of 18G3, Mr. Cavender, whose health had been failing, was taken sick 
and died, and there was but little demand from that time, till the next 



125 

September, for any farther aid to the refugees. In this charitable 
service no one could have been more faithful and constant than ]\[r. 
Cavender had been ; and in other relations and duties, during- an 
honorable and well spent life, he had been distinguished as the upright 
citizen, and patron of christian learning and i)hilanthropy, and his 
death was g^reatly lamented. 

In August, '63, there began to be further arriA^als of destitute refugees 
from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. 
Many of them were women, with small children, poorly clad, often 
barefooted, brought up the river on Government steamers, and landed 
here, without the means of procuring a place of shelter for a sing-le 
night. Their husbands had been killed in the Avar, had been murdered 
by guerrillas, had been conscripted into the rebel army, or had died 
from the effects of exposure in lying out in the woods, in dens and 
caves of the earth, to escape the blood-hounds of the rebel conscription. 
At tirst these poor refugee families fell into the hands of the police, 
but the j)olice station was not a tit jDlace for them, although some of 
them found shelter there. 

One day, late in August, the President of the Connnission was called 
to see what could be done for a poor blind woman, and her tamily of 
six children, who had walked all the way from Arkansas to Eolla, Mo., 
her little children leading her several hundred miles by the hand, and 
from Eolla thej^ had been brought on the cars to St. Louis, as a charit\^ 
They were in an upper unfurnished room of the Pacific hotel, the 
woman, and a boy about twelve years old, being- sick, and she totally 
blind. They sat upon the floor, clothed in rags, and presented a sight 
that would have moved the stoutest heart to pity and to tears. 

The children of this woman, whose name was Mrs. Hargrave, were 
adopted by Kev. Dr. Eliot, and placed in the Mission school on Eighth 
street, and the mother was sent to the St. Louis hospital, kept by the 
Sisters of Charity. Her youngest children she had never seen, they 
having- been born since she became blind. The parting- of the blind 



120 

mother from her little oues was a touching scene. But she gave them 
up willingly, knowing it to be a necessity, and for their good. At the 
Sisters' hospital, her health, after several months, was restored, and, 
by a surgical operation of Dr. Pope, the cataracts were removed from 
her eyes, and she was able to see. Her children were then brought to 
her, and the meeting can be better imaghied than described. 

A little later, another refugee mother came, and, with two little 
children, stood at the door of the Commission, on Fifth street, having 
no place to which she could go. They were barefooted, dusty with 
travel, and miserably clad. The mother told her sad story. 

Her husband had been murdered by guerrillas, near Fort Smith, 
Ark., and she had walked, with her children, to Rolla, riding part of 
the way in Government wagons, and had reached St. Louis, as a place 
of refuge. She had to stay at the police station that night. The next 
day, three women and children arrived from Jackson, Tenn., in an 
equally destitute condition. There was no alternative but to open 
another refugee home. The President of the Commission rented the 
house, 39 Walnut street, for the purpose, on the 1st of September, and 
from that date to the present, not less than fifteen hundred refugees 
have been sheltered, provided for, or sent on their way to friends, or 
places of employment, in the free States. By an arrangement with 
Generals Schofield and Rosecrans, rations and fuel are allowed from 
the Government, and the rent is paid by the Quartermaster; but the 
incidental expenses of the home, and the charities in clothing, money, 
&c., are provided by the Commission. It is under the superintendence 
of Rev. Mr. Forman, the Secretary of the Commission, and its domestic 
arrangements are conducted by JNIiss M. Elliott, as Matron, who, in a 
spirit of true self-sacrifice, devotes her time and strength to the service 
of these poor outcasts from the rebellion. The expenses and charities 
of the Home, and for destitute refugee families in the city, and to those 
going beyond St. Louis, have been about $1,000 in six months, beyond 
the aid received from the Government in rations, fuel, rent, and trans- 



127 

portation. Several valuable boxes of clothing have been received from 
New England; also contributions of money from Boston, from the 
Ladies' Loj^al League, of St. Louis, and from various other sources. 
The receipts for this charity and for the Freedmen, and the disburse- 
ments are kej^t separate from the other funds and resources of the 
Commission, so that there is no misappropriation of what is designed 
for the soldiers to these objects. Contributors are always requested 
to designate the object of their charities, and if no designation is 
made, they go into the sanitary fund. 

The number of refugees at Pilot Knob, at the present time, is over 
1700 persons, mostly women and children. They are chiefly from 
Arkansas, and are under the superintendence of a faithful and excellent 
man, Chaplain A. Wright, who has been specially assigned to that duty. 
Contributions to the value of several thousand dollars in goods, 
clothing, shoes, medicines for the sick, hardware and sash to assist 
in building cheap houses, and over $1000 in money have been sent 
to Mr. Wright, and expended in a judicious manner. At a time of 
special distress the Commission sent him fifteen barrels of clothing, 
eighty dollars in material for clothing, (purchased by Mrs. General 
risk ) twenty dollars in money, sixty dollars in medicines, thirty dollars 
worth of glazed sash, half a dozen axes for women, who cut their own 
wood ; and of the other contributions a large portion was collected by 
Mrs. Fisk, who made visits to Pilot Knob, and was most energetic and 
successful in her endeavors to relieve and benefit these poor people. 
Brig. Gen. Fisk, also, while commanding the District, did every thing 
in his power to minister to their wants. 

The Western Commission also responded to an appeal from Mr. J. R. 
Brown, agent U. S. Sanitary Commission at Leavemvorth City, for aid 
to refugees at that post, and at Fort Scott, Kansas, and sent thirty 
boxes of clothing to those points, and a thousand Union Spellers for 
schools of the fi-eed children at Leavenworth. 

At RoUa, Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Cairo, Columbus, Memphis, 



128 

Helena, and Vicksburg, there are multitudes of these poor refugees, 
numbered by thousands, Avho have come to us from rebel iiersecutiou 
and outrage, or have been driven, by the raA^ages of war, and the 
destitution of food and clothing, to seek a refuge within our lines. 
Humanity requires that they should be aided, at least to the extent 
of saving life, and to enable them to reach i)laces, where employment 
and subsistence can be found. 

Recently a necessity has arisen for a llefugee Home at A'^icksburg, 
and the Commission has established one there, under the superinten- 
dence of Mr. Mann, with Mrs. Maria Brooks for matron. It was 
opened on the 1st of April, and has already received and aided 2,160 
of these poor people. On the 7th of JMay, there were 6'20 remaining, 
mostly women and children. Transportation had been furnished to 
those wishing to emigrate North, and emplojment for the able-bodied 
men. 

The large number of destitute Avhite children, belonging to these 
families, having no means of instruction, has induced the Commission 
to send a teacher. Miss G. C. Chapman, to Yicksburg, to open a school 
for them, in connection with the Home, also under Mr. Mann's super- 
intendence. This lady is now on her Avay, with a supply of school 
books for this purpose. 

•In all these enterprises of benevolence, Mr. Mann, as the agent 
of the Commission, has had the sanction, advice and co-operation of 
General McArthur, commanding at Vicksburg, who has assigned to 
the Commission suitable buildings for the purpose, and shown his 
great friendliness in this and many other Avays. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Resources of the Western Sanitary Commission — Appropriations by the 
Governor and Legislature of Missouri — Liberality of St. Louis-Uonations 
from Massachusetts and California — Gifts of the People — Contributions 
FROM THE Women of the Loyal States — Distributions by the Commission — 
Number of Articles given — Estimated value, one and a half millions of 
dollars — Expenses of the Commission for Salaries of Agents, Rents, and 
Distribution of Stores less than one per cent. — Friendship of Major 
Generals Fremont, Hai.leck, Curtis, Schofielu, Rosecrans, Sherman, and 
Lieut. Gen. Grant for the Commission — Also, of Assistant Surgeon General 
Wood, Gen. Allen, Colonels Parsons, Myers, Haines, andMaj. Smith— Ladies 
Union Aid Society of St. Louis— Its Work — Receipts and Disbursements — 
Freedmen's Relief Society of St. Louis— Its Work — Receipts and Disburse- 
ments — Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair — Conclusion. 



The resources of the AVestern Sanitary Commission have consisted of 
the vokmtary contributions of tlie people of the loyal States. Noble 
men and women in the leading- towns and cities of New England, in 
the great Northwest, and in a few of the great cities of the seaboard — 
Boston, Providence, New York, and Pliiladelphia — have for nearly 
three years given liberally of their means and influence to strengthen 
this Commission, and help it to do the work which Providence has 
given it to do. 

But, beside all these, the city and county of St. Louis, and the 
Legislature of Missouri, have acted with a generosity and patriotism 
worthy of all honor. In addition to the liberal contributions of the 
citizens, during the first year of the labors of the Commission, the late 
Gov. Gamble, from an appropriation by the Convention of Missouri, 
for the benefit of Missouri troops, placed $50,000 in the treasury of the 
Commission, to be used for sick and wounded soldiers of the State of 
Missouri. This sum was used, not by singling out that class of soldiers 
for special care, but, caring for all United States soldiers alike, an ac- 
I 



130 

count was kept of the extent to which Missouri troops shared in these 
benefits, and tlie amount, being far beyond the appropriation, tlie State 
authorities were abundant!}^ satisfied and pleased with the use made 
of these funds. 

Again, in the winter of 1864, the Legislature of Missouri made an- 
other appropriation of $25,000 to the Commission, to be used in the 
same way, and the county court of the county of St. Louis made a 
donation of $2,000. Besides these gifts, there was raised, at the Mer- 
chants' Exchange, St. Louis, a liberal subscription of money and goods 
to the Commission, for the army of Gei:. Grant, during the siege of 
Vicksburg, amounting in value to about $5,000, and December 25th, 
1863, a committee of the merchants, of which Mr. Joseph C. Cabot was 
chairman, raised another subscription of $25,000 additional, for the 
general purposes of the Commission. 

Besides a constant flow of contributions from Boston and neighbor- 
ing toAvns and cities of Massachusetts, that city at one time, through 
a committee, of which R. C. Greenleaf was treasurer, in response to 
an appeal from IJev. Dr. Eliot, on behalf of the Commission, contribut- 
ed $50,000 ; and the distant State of California, stimulated by the 
eloquence and patriotism of the lamented Thomas Starr King, sub- 
scribed $50,000, being part of a donation of $200,000, the balance of 
which went to the United States Sanitary Commission. These contri- 
butions of money, with the gifts of friends in New York city, through 
that noble and patriotic citizen, James A. Roosevelt, and from other 
towns and cities of the loyal States, have amounted in the aggregate, 
to $275,000 in money ; while the stores contributed from the same 
sources, and from the Ladies' Cnion Aid Societies, of almost every 
village and city from Maine to Minnesota, and from Boston to St. Louis, 
consisting of blankets, comforts, sheets, pillows, pillow-slips, socks, 
slippers, mittens, bandages, lint, salves, cotton and woolen shirts and 
drawers, hospital garments, dressing gowns, dried and canned fruits, 
tomatoes, jellies, domestic wines, blackberry cordials, butter, vegeta- 



bles, pickles, books, reading matter, and thousands of other useful 
articles, have amounted in value to more than a million and a quarter 
of dollars. 

Out of these contributions, the Commission has issued to the western 
armies, 985,984: articles ; 28,838 to the western navy ; 80,505 to freedmen, 
and 5,848 to Union refugees, making an aggregate of 1,101,174 articles. 

In addition to these, many thousands of articles were given out 
during the first three months of the labors of the Commission, that no 
account was made of ; and we have reason to believe, that many 
thousand more have escaped entry ; it is so diflB^cult, in the hurry 
occasioned by a great battle, or a pressing emergency, to keep an ac- 
curate record. During the months of June, 1863, and February, '64, 
the distributions of the Commission reached 184,333 articles. These, 
it is true, were busy months, but not more so than those which suc- 
ceeded the battles of Fort Donelson, Pea Eidge, and Pittsburgh Land- 
ing. During thu first nine months of the labors of the Commission, its 
records show a distribution of over 250,000 articles, so that Ave are 
quite confident of a large under estimate in the statistics here given, 
but they accord with the books, and we are not willing to make any 
exaggerations. The expenses of the Commission, during the whole 
period of its laboi-s, for the salaries of agents, employees, rents, etc., is 
less than one per cent, of the whole amount distributed. The services 
of the members of the Commission, which includes the President and 
Treasurer, are <.'ratuitous. 

Through all this immense labor, from September 5th, 1861, to the 
present date, the Commission has enjoyed the friendly confidence and 
co-operation of every commander of the Department; and to Major 
Generals Fremont, Halleck, Curtis, Schofield, and Eosecrans, to the 
Secretary of War, and to Lieut. Gen'l Grant, and Maj. Gen'l Sherman 
in the field, it is much indebted for their support, and the facilities 
it has enjoyed in the trauspqrtation of supplies, in letters of connnen- 
dation, in access to the armies, in the respect paid to it by surgeons 



132 

and subordinate ofl3.cers, and in varied opportunities of usefulness. To 
Assistant Surgeon general R. C. Wood, Gen. Eobert Allen, Colonels 
L. B. Parsons, and William Myers, of the Quartennaster's Depart- 
ment; to Col. Haines and Capt. King of the Commissary Dei^artment, 
and to Maj. Robert Smith, of the Pay Department, the Commission is 
indebted for many favors, and for obliging and gentlemanly treat- 
ment on all occasions. 

The names of contributors to the funds and stores of the Commission, 
it would be a pleasure to record here, yet their number is so great, 
and the space allotted to this work already so nearly filled, that the 
writer is not able to do them this honor; but their names are registered, 
in the Lamb's Book of Life, recorded by the angels in Heaven, and they 
will all be known and recognized in the resurrection of the just. 

Before concluding this work, it remains to give a brief account of two 
co-operative associations in St. Louis : the Ladies' Union Aid Societj', 
and the Freedmen's Relief Society, and to notice the Mississippi Vallej'' 
Sanitary Fair, now in successful operation, while these concluding 
pages are being written — an enterprize inaugurated for the benefit of 
the cause in which the Western Sanitary Commission, and these kindred 
associations, are engaged. 

The Ladies' Union Aid Society of St. Louis was organized August 
2d, 1861. Mrs. C. W. Stevens was the first President. Its officers at 
pi-esent are, Mrs. Alfred Clapp, President; Mrs. Sam'l C. Da\is, Mrs. 
T. M. Post, and Mrs. Robert Anderson, Vice-Presidents; Mrs. S. B. 
Kellogg, Treasurer; Miss H. A. Adams, Recording Secretary, and 
Miss Belle Holmes, Corresponding Secretary. Miss A. S. Debenham 
and Miss S. F. McCracken have also acted as Secretaries in the absence 
of the regular Recording Secretary, for several months, at Xashville, 
Tennessee. 

The friendly connection and co-operation of this association with the 
Western Sanitary Commission has already appeared in the course of 
these pages, and want of space now precludes a full sta.temeflt of its 



133 

separate work, whicli has been already made public in a valuable re- 
port of fortj^-eight pages for the year 1863. 

The work of the society has consisted in hosi^ital visiting, in aid to 
soldiers' families, in the distribution of religious reading, from the 
Christian Commission, in volunteering as nurses after the great battles, 
in making up hospital garments and rolling bandages, in receiving and 
distributing sanitary stores, in preparing delicate food for the sick, at 
its special diet kitchen at Benton Barracks, where 19,382 dishes had 
been prepared from May 20th to October 1st, 1863, and in assisting the 
Western Sanitary Commission in its work. Of articles made, up to 
October 1st, 1863, its report shows 37,676 sheets, 2,664 sliirts, 1,765 
pairs of drawers, 2,568 bed sacks, 79,321 pillow cases, 3,558 towels, 
amounting to 127,555 articles. In doing this work, soldiers' wives were 
given employment, and $6,130.85 paid out for the purpose, the articles 
being used by the Western Sanitary Commission, and the Medical Pur- 
veyor. The receipts of the Society, in money alone, up to Sept. 25th, 
1863, had been $31,137.42, and its disbursements $28,987.85. Its re- 
ceipts in sanitary stores have been very great, coming largely from the 
noble women of St. Louis, and its distributions of the same class of 
ai'ticles issued by the Western Sanitarj'^ Commission, to Oct. 1st, 1863, 
were 225,131 articles. 

The Freedmen's Relief Society of St. Louis is a local organization 
of ladies, who have rendered most useful service and aid in behalf of 
the poor freedmen, and their families at St. Louis, and in sending con- 
tributions to Memphis, Helena, and other points on the lower Missis- 
sippi. Their co-operation with the Western Sanitary Commission has 
been very efficient, and thousands of poor '' contrabands," at Benton 
Barracks, and elsewhere, have had occasion to bless them. 

The officers of this association are Mrs. Washington King, President 
Mrs. Lucien Eaton, Vice President, Mrs. C. C. Bailey, Treasurer, Mrs. 
Wm. T. Hazard, Corresiyondinfj Secretary, and Mrs. Enos Clarke 
Becording Secretary. Its Board of Managers are Mrs. H. A. Nelson 



134 

Mrs. H. Kennedy, Mrs. O. H. Piatt, Mrs. N. Chapman, Mrs. Wm. Mc- 
Kee, Mrs. J. H. Parker, Mrs. Dr. McMurray, Mi'S. John McLean, Mrs. 
Truman Woodruff, Mrs. L. Brawner, Mrs. W. D. Butler, and Miss 
A. L. Forbes. The following gentlemen are also an advisory com- 
mittee: — Rev. II. A. Kelson, D.D., Kev. Henry Cox, Lucien Eaton, 
Esq., and Henry Hitchcock, Esq. 

During the summer of 1863, several thousands of freedmen were 
brought from Helena and elsewhere, to St. Louis, and quartered in the 
old Missouri Hotel ; a hospital was opened for the sick, on Sixth street, 
and the society had its hands full in assisting to clothe them, and min- 
ister to their necessities. Many of these people were afterwards for- 
warded to Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois, as hired laborers. But a large 
work still remained for the freedmen's families at Benton Barracks, 
where there are many rejected recruits, and families of colored soldiers, 
to be assisted and provided for. A school for colored children is now 
taught at that place, by Miss Knight, a lady employed by the Western 
Sanitary Commission, books are furnished, and a similar work of 
instruction is carried on for the colored soldiers while they remain. 

The receipts of this society, for the year 1863, were, in money, 
$4,863.20, and its expenditures $3,800.36, and its receipts and dis- 
bursements in goods, clothing, etc., a large, but unestimated amount. 
The articles of clothing distributed were 4,356, besides large quantities 
of linseys, osnaburgs, and blue checks, to be made into garments. Five 
hundred dollars were also appropriated towards a chui-ch and school 
house, at Island No. 10, and 93 boxes of clothing, were sent to Colum- 
bus, Memphis, Helena, Bolivar, Pittsburg 'Landing, and Benton 
Barracks. 

As the last pages of this work are passing through the press, a noble 
enterprize is in pi-ogress, in this city, for replenishing the funds of the 
AVestern Sanitary Commission, and of these kindred and co-operative 
associations, that they may be enabled to go on with their noble and 
philanthropic labors, during the continuance of the war. The great 



135 

fairs that had hecii held in the large cities of the East, and in Chicago 
and Cincinnati, in aid of the United States Sanitar.v Commission, gave 
nothing to the funds of the Western Commission. Illinois, Indiana, 
and Ohio, neighboring States, have poured their great and generous 
contributions chiefly through that channel and their own agencies; 
while their own regiments, as this history will show, have been the 
constant care of the Western Sanitary Commission, both in the field 
and in its Soldier's Homes. With large and increasing demands 
upon its treasury and supplies, its resources had begun to fail. The 
example of other cities suggested the idea of a Mississippi Valley 
Sanitary Fair at St. Louis, and the enterprise was commenced in 
the latter part of the month of January, by a large preliminary 
meeting, at Mercantile Library Hall, presided over by the Mayor of 
of the city, Hon. Chauncey I. Filley ; at which an organization was 
effected for this purpose. Speeches were made by the Mayor, by 
Eev. William G. Eliot, D. D., by Brig. Gen. C. B. Fisk, by Maj. 
Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, by Maj. McKee Dunn, and Professor Amasa 
McCoy. A letter was read from Lieut. Gen. Grant, in which he ex- 
pressed the heartiest sympathy in the undertaking, and bore testi- 
mony to the many tons (amounting to thousands,) of sanitary stores 
furnished to his army by the AYestern Sanitary Commission. The 
following ofiicers and committees were then elected, to inaugurate 
and conduct this great enterprise. 

Maj. Genl W. S. Eosecrans, President ; Gov. Willard P. Hall, 1st 
Vice President; Mayor C. I. Filley, 2d Vice President; Brig. Gen. 
C. B. Fisk, od Vice President ; Brig. Gen. J. W. Davidson, Mh Vice 
President ; Mayor Jas. S. Thomas, bth Vice President ; Sam'l Copp, jr.. 
Treasurer ; Maj. Alfred Mackay, Cor. Secretary, 

Standing Committee. — James E. Yeatman, Wm. G. Eliot, George 
Partridge, Carlos S. Greeley, John B. Johnson, — members of the West- 
ern Sanitary Commission. 

Executive Committee of Gentlemen.— James E. Yeatman, Chair- 



136 

man, J. H. Lightner, E. W. Fox, Sam'l Copp, jr., Geo. D. Hall, S. E. 
Fille.y, Charles B. Hubbell, Jr., James Blackmail, Wm. D'Oench, AVm. 
Patrick, J. O. Pierce, Gustavus W. Dreyer, H. A. Homeyer, B. li. 
Bonner, Adolphus Meier, Chas. Speck, "VYm. Mitchell, Wm. Aclriance, 
George E. Leightou, M. L. Linton, AVm. II. Benton, Dwight Durkee, 
Amadee Valle, Wyllys King, George P. Plant, Morris Collins, J. C. 
Cabot, N. C. Chapman, John D. Periy, S. H. Laflin, Jas. AYard. 

Executive Committee of Ladies, — Mrs. C. I. Filley, President ; 
Miss Anna M. Debenham, Recording Secretary ; Mrs. Gen. V. P. Yan 
Antwerp, Corresponding Secretary; Miss Phcebe AY, Conzins, Corres- 
ponding Secretary; Mrs. Samuel Copp, Jr., Treasurer; Mrs. Robert 
Anderson, Mrs. George Partridge, Mrs. J. E. D. Couzins, Mrs. E. M. 
AA'eber, Mrs. Truman AVoodruff, Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk, Mrs. F. A. Dick, 
Mrs. Alfred Clapp, Mrs. Dr. E. Hale, Mrs. A. S. AY. Goodwin, Mrs. 
H. T. Blow, Mrs. Amelia Reihl, Mrs. N. C, Chapman, Mrs, AYashing- 
ton King, Mrs. S. A. Ranlett, Mrs. T. B. Edgar, Mrs. C. S. Greeley, 
Mrs. AY. T. Hazard, Mrs. Charles D. Drake, Mrs. AYm. McKee, Mrs. 
Samuel C. Davis, Mrs. McKee Dunn, Mrs. R. H. Morton, Mrs. Dr. 
O'Reilly, Mrs. S, B. Kellogg, Mrs, S. A. Collier, Mrs. AY. A. Doan, 
Mrs. Dr. Hneussler, Mrs. Adolphus Abeles, Mrs, F, P. Blair, Mrs. 
Elizabeth AY. Clarke, Mrs. II. Dreyer, Mrs. John AYolff, Mrs. Ulrich 
Busch, Mrs. John J. Hoppe, Mrs. Charles Eggers, Mrs. AYm. D'Oench, 
Mrs, Dr. Hill, Mrs Adolphus Meier, Mrs. John C. Vogel, Mrs. R. 
Barth, Mrs. H. C. Gempp, Mrs. O. D. Filley, Mrs. Henry Stagg, 
Mrs. E. AY. Fox. 

Various subordinate committees were afterwards appointed, repre- 
senting all the trades and branches of business in St. Louis, and a 
committee was appointed to conduct a department in the Fair for the 
benefit of frccdmen and Union refugees, so that contributions might 
be made for this charity, by itself, and kept separate from the general 
sanitary work of the army. 

Appeals were immediately sent out to the people of the Mississippi 



137 

valley, and to the whole country ; the newspaper press of St. Louis 
lent their columns, with great generosity, to the promotion of the 
enterprise, and published largely in its interests ; and friendly papers 
abroad have given it all the publicity that could be desired. 

The merchants and private citizens, the noble men and women of St. 
Louis, have taken hold of the enterprise with a generous zeal, and 
determined to make it a decided success. Friends in Boston, New 
York, New Bedford, New Haven, have made handsome donations, 
and some of them have sent representatives to aid in the work. AVhile 
these labors were being performed, a splendid building was erected on 
Twelfth Street, from Olive St. to St. Charles St., 500 feet long and 114 
feet wide, with wings on Locust street, 100 feet each in length, beyond 
the main building, and 54 feet wide, with an octagon centre 75 feet in 
diameter, and 50 feet high. A stercoscopticon has also been built at one 
side; and the whole has been arranged, decorated, divided into apart- 
ments, and filled with contributions from art and nature, of the most 
valuable kinds. From the mineral and agricultural, and manufactur- 
ing resources of Missouri and the great west, from lakes and oceans, 
and rivers, from battle fields and farms and workshops, and stores of 
merchandize, gifts have come that make one of the most beautiful and 
valuable collections that has ever been gathered on this continent. 

Besides these contributions in goods, at the opening of the Fair, on 
the 17tli of May, $200,000 in money had already been given towards the 
object, of which much the largest portion comes from the citizens of 
St. Louis, a city that has probably sufiered more from the Avar than any 
of the loyal cities of the Union. 

For three days the Fair has been in successful progress, and before it 
closes, this sketch of the labors and history of the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission will be added to its contributions, and explain more fully the 
great work for which it has been held, and to which its results will be 
sacredly appropriated. Written under a pressure of other duties, and 
without opportunity of revision, its chapters going to press as fast as 



138 

they can be given to the printers, it must needs contain some imper- 
fections and errors, and some omissions will doubtless have occurred; 
but a frequent demand has been made for such a work, and it is hoped 
that it will be of some service to the great cause we have at heart, and 
give to the world a better appreciation of the labors and sacrifices that 
are necessary to sustain our heroes in the great conflict in which we are 
engaged — a conflict of the free States of the Republic with the slave- 
power of the South, which has undertaken to divide our country, build 
itself up on the ruins of a beneficent Government, and perpetuate, 
through coming ages, the crime of holding millions of the human race 
in bondage. In this contest, in which the Providence of a just God 
is clearly seen, vindicating itself, let it be our part to be found on 
the side of humanity, of Christian civilization, of liberty and law ; and 
may God save the right I 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Accountability of aj^ents , 104 

Alexander, C. T., Surg. U. S. A 66 

Allen, A. L., M. D 66 

Allen Gen . Kobert 133 

Appeal of Western Sanitai'y Commission, 57, 58 — Response .")'J, 114 

Army of the Frontier, 60— Agents and stores sent to (iO 

Army of the South- West, 28— its arrival at Helena, ijo — its toilsome march, ."jo— its pri- 
vations and bravery, 55 — sickness at Helena 55 

Ai-kansas Post, battle of, 66, 69 

Arnot's building converted into a hospital 45 

Atkinson , Edward 114 

Azpell, T.F., Surg. U. S. V 27, 44, 45 

Battles, of Booneville, Dug Spring, Carthage and AVilson's Creek, 5 — of Lexington 9 — 
of Pea Ridge, 15, 27 — of Fort Donelson, 23 — Naval fight at Memphis, 53 — of Cross 

Hollows , 60— of Cane Hill, 60— of Prairie Grove, .■ 61 

Banks , Gen . , his army supplied 99 

Bailley, Dr 5 

Barker, Mrs 96 

Barnard, James M 59, 114 

Bentou Barracks 13, 14 

Benton Barracks Hospital, 10, 73 — number ol patients, 73 — per centage of deaths 73 

Bixby, Geo. H., Ass't Surg. U. S. N '. 54 

Blunt, Gen 60 

Bloomtield , Mo 91 

Boston , Mass . , its liberality 59 

Bottomley, L. H.,M. D 66 

Bradley, W. H, M. D 66 

Bradley, Rev. Wm 95 

Breckenridge, Miss 69 

Breed, B. B., Surg. U. S. V 87 

Brooks, Mrs. Maria 12 

Cabot, Joseph C 130 

California, liberal donation 130 

Calloway, L. H., M. D 64 

Cane Hill, battle of 60 

Cape Girardeau 92 

Carthage, battle of. 5 

Casselberry, Surg., U. S. V 92 

Cavender, John, 124, liis labors for refugees, death and character 124, 125 

' ' Champion , ' ' Steamer sent with Sanitary goods to Vicksburg 77 

Chapman , Miss G . C . , teacher for refugees at Vicksburg 128 

CliattanooL-a, stores sent to, 99 — agent there 99 

Cliristmas at Soldiers' Home 37 

Christian Commission, U. S 83, 96 

" City of Alton," hospital boat 75, 106 

' ' City of Louisiana, ' ' hospital boat 25, 44, 45, 106 



140 



" City of Memphis," hospital boat 46, iu« 

C'lapp, Mrs. Alfred 69, 132, 136 

Clark , Mrs . Win 69 

Clark, Albert 99 

Clarendon, Ark 92 

Columbus, K3'. , Soldiers' Home at 83 

Collins, H. E 99 

Colt, Mrs . Henrietta L 69 

Colored troops, 74 — sick of at Benton Barracks 74 

Conclusion 138 

Contributions, from what States, Cities, and Towns, 10, 11, 12, 40, 59, 114— from Boston, 

114, from other sources 127, 129 

Copeland, Gen 90 

Cotton on leased jjlantations, 119 — taxed, 110 — raised by tVecdmen for themselves 120 

Couzins, Mrs. J. E. D 69 

Crawshaw, Mrs .J 69 

" Crescent City," hospital boat 44, 4.5, 106 

Cross Hollows, battle of 60 

Cullum, Geo. W., Brig. Gen 15 

Curtis, S. R., Maj. Gen., 15, 34, 113, 131— letter of 34 

Daggett, Mrs . Lydia H 121 

Dart, Miss 123 

Davidson, J. W. Brig. Geu 91 

Davis, C. H. Commodore, his Letter to the Commission 56 

De Camp, Medical Director 5, 16 

1 )eodorizing coffin 51 

Derby, Surg. U. S. A 56 

Diseases at Benton Barracks, winter of "61-2 13 

Distributions of Sanitary Stores, 15, 47, 77— to Grant's army, 7S, 94, 97— to Banks' 
Army, 99— at Memphis, 75— what Hospitals supi)lied, 104, 105 -what Regiments sup- 
plied, 105, 106— what Hospital Steamers supplied, 106— what Gunboats supplied, 106 

— toFreodmen, 121— to Refugees, 127— M'liole number of articles 131 

Dix, MissD. L., Sujj't of Female Nurses iu the U. S. Hospitals 7, 20 

Drummer Boy, 81— death of. 81 

Duvall's Bluff 92 

Educational Commission for Freedmen, Boston, 114— Contributions from 114 

Eliot, W. G., D. D., 8, 113, 130- Letter of, 94-orphans adopted by 125 

Eliot Hospital, St. Louis 10 

Elliott, Miss Melcenia 126 

"Empress," Hospital boat 44, 45 

Endicott , Wm . , Jr 114 

Farrar, Col 118 

Fifth Street Hospital , St. Louis 8,9 

Fish, Rev. J. F., Post Chaplain GO 

Fithian, Dr., agent U.S. Sanitary Commission 93 

Fisher , Rev . H . D 114 

Fisk, Mrs C. B. , 127— her labors for refugees 127 

Fisk, C. B., Brig. Gen 127 

Floating Hospitals, origin of. 25 

Flying Hospitals 62, 03 

Forman, Rev. J. G., Secretary 10, 112, 126 

Fort Donelsou, battle of, 23, 131 — wounded brought to St. Louis 24 

Fort Blunt, 94— Sanitary Stores sent to 94 

Foster, R. K., Supt 84 

Foster, H . R 121 

Franklin, E. C 27 

Fremont, John C, Maj. Gen 7, 10, 13, 131 



141 

Fremont, Mrs 7 

Fremont Relief Society 18 

Freedmen of the Mississippi, 110— sufferings of, 110— relief sent to Helena, 112— labors 
of Miss Maria R. Maun at Helena, 112, 113 — visit of Mr. Yeatman to, 114 — letter of 
tlie Commission to the Pi-esident concerning them, 114 — Chaplain Fisher's visit to 
New England on account of, 114— arrival of at Vicksburg, 123— distributions to, 
123— Freednien's Aid Committee formed at Boston, 114— Educational Commission, 
114— contributions from, 114— other associations, 115— wages of Freedmen not 

paid, wrongs by military authorities, 116, 117— Freedmens' Home farms 119 

Freedmen's Relief Society of St. Louis, 133-its officers, 133— its work 134 

Friends .' liry 

Fritz, Wm. , M. D 66 

Gamble, late Governor 129 

Gangrene Hospital, Memphis 7.5 

Gay oso Hospital, Memphis 75 

Gibbon , John 37 

' ' Glasgow, ' ' Hospital transport 75 

Good Samaritan Hospital 10 

Grant, U. S. Maj. Gen., G8, 131— his care of the health of his Army 72 

Greeley, C. S 8 

Greenleaf , R. C 50, 130 

Grove, J. II. Surg., U. S. V , 23, 74 

Guerrillas Destroy Sanitary Stores, 91— Murder 126 

Guests at Soldiers' Homes 35, 36, 82, 84, 85, 86 

Gunboats, 53, 69— supplied witli Stores, 106 - rebel Gunboats destroyed at Memphis ,53 

Hagar, Miss Sarah J., Teacher to Freedmen, 121— death and character 122 

Haines, Col 132 

Halleck, Maj . Gen 13, 131 

Hamilton, Gen. T. C 80 

Hammond, Dr. Wm. A., Surg. Gen., U. S. A., Letter to 49 

Hardy, Alpheus 114 

Hargrave , Mrs . , blind refugee 125 

Harrington , S . C . , Surg 94. 

Harvey, Mrs . , of Wisconsin si, 123 

Helena, Ark., occupied, 55— sickness there, 55— churches converted into hospitals, 55— 

Soldiers' Home at 84 

Herron , Gen 61 

Hodgen, John T., Sui-gcon U. S. V 9 

Hoge, Mrs (39 

Holly Springs, Miss yg 

Hopkins , Surgeou U.S.N 54 

Hospitals 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 27, 45, 56, 64, 65, 66, 75, 86, 87, 89 

Hospital Cai"s jq 

Hospital Steamers 25, 26, 44, 45, 46, 54, 75 

Hughes , Charles H . , Surgeon U . S . V IO3 

Hunt, Wm. Richardson, (rebel), 80— Mansion converted to a Soldier's Home 80 81 

Hunter, Maj . Gen 10 

Huntsville, Ala gi; 

Illustration, of erroneous complaints 101 

' 'Imperial , ' ' Hospital Boat 44 45 

Incidents 11, 34, 37, 91, 101, 117, 118, 125, 126 

Ironton 2^ 

Jackson Hospital, Memphis -5 

"January, D. A." Hospital Boat 44 45 

Jefferson City, Mo I4 

Jefferson Ban-ack ' s Hospital (54 gg 



142 

Jeflerhoii Hospital , Memphis 75 

Johnson, J. B., M.D S 

Johnson , Miss Ida. 83 

King, Capt 132 

King, Rev. T. S 130 

King, Mrs. Washington 09 

Knight, Miss A . M 121 

Ladies' Union Aid Society, St. Louis, IS, '23, G9, 70, 90— officers of, 13'2— its work 133 

Ladies' Union Aid Societies, 130 

Ladies Loyal League 127 

Lamb, Mrs. Thomas 59 

Latham, H., M. 1) 6G 

Lawrence , A . A 114 

Lawson Hospital 64, G6 

Leeds , Mr G4 

Leslie, S., M. D GG 

Letters, of Gen. Curtis, 34-of Mr. Yeatman, 71, 95— of Col. Parsons, 43— of the Commis- 
sion, 49, l]4-of Commodore Davis, oG-of Chaplain Peake, 93— of Surg. "Whiteliill, 
94— of Surg. Harrington, 94-ofRev. Dr. Eliot, 94, 95- of Col. Webber, 95— of A. 

W. Plattenburg, iHj— of Surg. Hex 97 

Livermore, Mrs. M. A G9 

Lodgings at Soldiers' Homes '. 3G, 37, 8-2, 83, 84, 85, SG 

Loring, Chas. G 114 

Mann, N. M. , Supt 84, 123 

Mann , Miss Maria K 112, 113 

May , Dv 118 

Marine Brigade 120 

Marine Hospital, St. Louis, G4— ditto at Memphis 75 

Marsh, W. L., 121-letter from 122 

Marston, J. J., M. D 66 

McArthur, Gen 128 

McLane, P., M. D 60 

McClernand, J . A . , 3Iaj . Gen 69 

McKim , Rev. Philip, Chaplain 66 

Massachusetts 59 

Meals at Soldiers' Homes 36, 83, 84, 85 

Memphis Captured, 53- Soldiers' Home at, 80, 81, 82-hospitals at 75 

Merchants' Exchange 130 

Mellen, W. P., Treasury Dept 110, 120 

Military prisons at St. Louis, 45, 88-at Alton, 111., 88— report of 88 

Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, 134 - its organization, 135— its success 137 

Mission School, St. Louis 125 

Missouri [legislature , appropriation of 129, 130 

Missouri troops cared for 129, 130 

Mound Citv Hospital 27 

Murphy, Col. R. C , disgraced 70 

Myers, Col. Wm. M 132 

' ' Nashville, ' ' hospital boat 75 

National Freedmen's Relief Association 120, 123 

Naval Squadron of the Mississippi •'>-5, 54, ,56, 57 

New England, its liberality 59 

Newell, Rev. F. K., agent, Gl— his deatli 62 

New House of Refuge Hospital 5 

New Orleans Soldiers ' Home 83 

Nightingale, Floi-ence 3, 20 

Northwestern Freedmen' s Aid Commission 120 



143 

Nurses, Female, qualiflcatious of, 20— number employed, 21 -General Order, 20, 21— 
character of Nurses, 20— premiums awarded to, 42— only allowed to General Hos- 
pitals, 74— list of honor 107 

Nute, Chaplain E . , Sup ' t 83 

Otlicers ' Hospital , Memphis 75 

Orange, S. J., Sup't, 83- Mrs. Orange, matron 84 

Origin of Sanitary Commissions, 3— of the U. S. Sanitary Commission, 4— of the West- 
ern Sanitary Commission .^ 4—7 

Ostram, Miss A. L 35, S3 

Overton Hospital, Memphis .' 75 

Pacific Hospital, St. Louis 10 

Paige , Jas . A . , Chaplain 64 

Parsons, Col. L. B., Letter of 43, 131 

Parsons, Miss Emily 73, 74 

Partridge, George 8 

Peabody, Rev. Chas., Sup't, 35-Peabody, J. H., Surg., U. S. V 64 

Pea Ridge, Battle of, 27, 131— wounded, 27— Agent sent with stores, 29— his account of.30, 32 

Peake , E . S . , Chaplain , Letter of 93 

Pettigrew, S., Chaplain 06 

Phelps, Mrs. .John S., her heroism at Pea Kidge 34 

Pittsburg Lauding, battle of, 42, 131— wounded of, 43, 44— delegations and hospital 

steamers sent for them 43, 44 

Platteuburg, A. W., 29, 30, 33, 34— letter of. 96 

Plummer, 31rs. S. A., matron 83, 84, 85 

Post Hospitals , St. Louis 74, 87 

Prairie Grove, battle of, 61 — supplies furnished 61 

Premiums, given to uest stewards, nurses, etc i9 

Pope , Dr ]-2G 

Pope, Maj. Gen 2 

Porter, D. D. Admiral 57 

Prentiss, B. M. Maj. Gen 113 

Questions answered 99, 100, 101 , 102 

Randolph, J. F. Surg. U. S. A 05 

" Red Rover," naval hospital boat 54, 97, 106 

Reid, Rev. H. A., 12-Mrs. Reid 12 

Refugees, 124— their destitution, 124— fund raised for, 124— further arrivals, 125— Sad 

story, 126— at what places, 127— distributions to 124, 127 

Refugee Homes at St. Louis, 124, 126— at Vicksburg, 128- School for 128 

Reports, of soldiers' Homes, .38, 81— of Mr. Yeatman's visit to Grant's army, 71, 77— of 

freedmen 114, 119 

Resources of Western Sanitary Commission 129 

Rex, Geo. P. Surg. 33d 111. Infantry, letter of 97 

Ripley, L. B jg 

Robb, Maj. T. P 75 

Rolla, Soldiers' Graves there 14 15 

Roosevelt, Jas. A 130 

Rosecrans , Major Gen I3I 

Rumbold, T. F., M.D., gg 

Russell, Ira, Surgeon U. S. V 73 74 

"Ruth," Hospital Transport 75 

Sanitary Stores, number and value of articles issued 131 

Sawyer, Rev. Samuel j]2 2J3 

Schotield, Maj. Gen ]14 231 

ScoUay's deodorizing coffin, 51 — Report on it 51 50 53 

Scudder , M. S 1J4 

Secessionists assessed for Refugees j24 



144 

Sedalia H 

Sherman, W. T. , General, 68, 131— his care for the sick of his army "2 

Sick and wouiuled in St. Louis hospitals, 14— number of, 4i, 87— of Grant's array 72 

Sisters of Charity -J, 125 

Smith , Maj . Kubt 132 

Small Pox, U— Hospital at St. Louis 14, 87 

Special Diet Kitchen 74 

Soldiers' Homes 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 80, 81, 83, 84, So 

Soldiers at tlie Soldier's Home - Fi-om what States, 36, 82, 84, 85, 86— Character 36 

St. Louis Hospitals 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 45, 64, 65, 66, 75, 86, 87 

St. Louis, its liberality, 129— County Court 129 

Starr, Mrs. Lucy E., Matron 83 

Steele, Major Gen 92 

Surgeons of the Regular Army 17 

Tax on Cotton growing 119 

Tetrt, J. E ; 60, 61 

Tlianksgiving at Soldiers' Homes 37 

Thomas, .J. E., Chaplain 113 

Tliornton & Pierce's building converted to a hospital 45 

Til ton, R. II., Surg , U. S. A 65 

Tompkins, James <i9 

Union Hospital, Memphis 75 

United Presbyterians 115 

United States Sanitary Commission 4, 93, 135 

Value of contributions estimated 131 

Ventilation in Marine Hospital, St. Louis, 64— ventilating stoves introduced 64 

Veteran regiments, 97— cared for by Missouri 97 

Vicksburg, 68— battle of, 68— wounded from 69 

Visitors of hospitals, 18— noble Avomeii, 18— soldiers' tribute 19 

Wages of Freedmen 115, 116 

Wagner, Dr 45 

Warriner, Dr. H. A 75 

Washington Hosi)ital, Memphis 75 

Washburne, C. C, Maj. (ien Ill, 113 

Waters, O. E., Siip't 80, Si 

Waterman , II . J ; 91 , 92 

AVebber, Col. A. W., Letter of. 95 

Webster Hospital, Memphis 75 

AVeUs, Mrs. Shepherd 74 

Western Sanitary Commission, origin of, 4 to 7— of whom composed, 8— its rooms, 

16— apijeal of, .57— resources of 1"29 

Whelan, W., Surg., U. S.N 57 

WhitehiU, Jas. C, Surg., U. S. V., 92— Letter of 94 

White, Frank W., Surg., U. S. V 87 

Wilson's Creek, battle of 5 

Wood, Ass'tSurg. General 26, 72, 74, 132 

"Wood, R. C," hospital boat 26 

Wood, Rev. Glen 101 

Wood, Col. W. F 112 

SVounded, at new House of Refuge Hospital, 6-from Fort Donilson, 23— of Pea Ridge, 

28, 29-of Pittsburg Landing, 42— of Vicksburg, 69, 77— Arlcansas Post 70 

Wright, J. J. B., Surgeon U. S. A., Medical Director, 16— Relations to the Western 

Sanitary Commission 17 

Wright, Chaplain A., Sup't. of Refugees at Pilot Knob, 127— Ilis work 127 

Yeatman, Jas. E.8— His visit to Gen. Grant's army, 71— His report, 72— His second 
visit, 76— Report, 77— Visit to the Freedmen of tlie Mississippi, 114— His report, 114— 
His suggestions, 119— Visit to Washington, 119— Suggestions carried into effect 130 



FINAL REPORT 



OP THE 



Itotcttt J^anitjitg €i0mttii;S;siott, 



FROM 



May 9th, 1864, to December 31st, 1865. 



SAINT LOUIS: 

R. P. STUDLEY & CO., PRINTERS, LlTIIOGRAl'HERS, AND DOOK BINDERS. 

1806. • 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Previoiis Reports of the Commission, 1-2. — The Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, 3-5.— Finan- 
cial Report of the Fair, 5-13. — Letter of General Grant, 16. — Names of the Officers and 
Committees of the Fair, T8-.j5. — Acknowledgment of the Western Sanitary Commission, 35-37. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Commission supplied with Funds from the Proceeds of the Fair, 38-39. — Supplies sent to 
the Army of General Sherman, 39-41. — Acknowledgment and Views of the Commanding 
General, 41-43. — Appropriations to the Ladies' Union Aid Society, Ladies' Freechnen Relief 
Association, and the War Relief Committee of St. Louis, 43-44. — The Smizer Farm Gift by 
the County Court of St. Louis, 44. — Establishment of a Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Webster, 
in St. Loiiis County, 44-46.— Supplies sent to Union Prisoners at Andersonville, Ga., 46—19. — 
Correspondence with General Sherman, 47-51.— Supplies sent to Hospitals and Regiments at 
Memphis, Vicksburg, Helena, Duvall's Bluft", Little Rock, St. Louis, &c., from May to De- 
cember, 1864, 51-52. — Invasion of Missouri by General Sterhng Price, 52. — Demands on the 
Commission for Clothing and Hospital supplies for the Union Troops, 52-53. — The Influx 
of Refugees at St. Louis, 53-55. — Work for them at St. Louis and other points, 
55. — Visits of 3Ir. Yeatman to Fields of Operation in the Valley of the Missis- 
sippi, 55-56. — Troops sent to the Territories to quell the Indians, 56. — Large Demands 
made for Sanitary Supplies, especially of Vegetables and Anti-Scorbiitics, 56. — Gen- 
erous Shipments forwarded to the Plains, 57-59. — Colored Soldiers Supplied, 61. — 
Acknowledgment, 01.— Women Nurses in the Hospitals, 62-63.— Mr. Yeatman's Plan of a 
Sisterhood of Charity, 63-64.— Acknowledgment of Donations. 64-65. 



CHAPTER III. 

Soldiers' Homes and Agencies, 66.- The Home at St. Louis, 67-71.— The Home at Memphis, 
71— 78.— The Homo at Columbus, Ky., 79. — The Home and Agency at Vicksburg, Miss., 
79^0.— The Home and Agencies at Helena, Ark., 81-82.— The Home and Agency at Duvall's 
Bluft; Ark., 82-83.— Agency at Little Rock, Ark., 83.— Statistics of Soldiers' Homes Consoli- 
dated, 83-84. 



CHAPTEK IV. 

Kcfugecs and Freediuen, 85. — Statistics, 86. — The Cliaiitj' Ration for Refugees and Fieed- 
meii, 86. — Statistics, 87. — Co-operation of the Commanding Generals of llie Depart- 
ment of the Missouri, and of the District of St. Louis, 87.— Refugee Orplians, 88-89. — 
Touching Incidents, 89-92.— A Case of Persecution, 90-92.— Refugees at Pilot Knob, 92-94.— 
Refugees at RoUa, 94-95.— Refugees at Springfield, Mo., 96-99.— Refugees at Cape Girardeau, 
Mo., 99. — Refugees at Leavenworth and Fort Scott, Kansas, 99-102. — Refugees at Yicksburg, 
Miss., 102-103.— Refugees at Helena, Ark., 103-104.— Refugees at Nashville, Tenn., 104.— 
Refugees at Chattanooga, 104r-105.— Refugees at Little Rock, Ark., 105-106.— Letter of Governor 
Murphy concerning them, 106.— Relief sent by the Commission, 106-107.— Refugees' and 
Freedmen's Home established on Broadway, at St. Louis, 107-109. — Co-operation of the 
Ladies' Union Aid Society, and Ladies' Freedmen Relief Association, in its management, 
107-109. — Special Aid by the Presidents of these Societies and others in this work, 109. — 
Letter of Mr. Yeatman to Mr. Odiome concerning Refugees at Cairo, Memphis, Little Rock, 
Duvall's Bluff and Vicksburg, 110-111.— National Bureau of Refugees and Freedmen, 111. — 
Letter of Mr. Yeatman to Major General O. O. Howard, Commissioner of the Bureau, 
111-115. — Letter of the Secretary to General Howard, giving Receipts and Expenditures, and 
Statistics of Schools for Refugees and Freedmen, 116-120.— List of Articles distributed to 
Refugees and Freedmen, 120-123. — Labors for Freedmen, 123-124.— Acknowledgment, 125. — 
Establishment of a Freedmen's Orphans' Home in St. Louis, 125-12G. — Form of Indenture, 
126-128.— Schools for Colored Children in St. Louis, 128-130.— Contribution for Freedmen from 
Joseph and Esther Sturge, of England, 130.— Freedmen's National Monument to Mr. Lin- 
coln, the First Contribution, Successful Progress of the Movement, appointment of J. M. 
Laugston as Collecting Agent, and the amount already in the hands of the Treasurer of the 
Commission for this purpose, 130-138. 



CHAP T E R y . 

Total Distribution of Sanitary Stores, and List of articles distributed, 139-142.— Estimated 
Value, 142.— Cash Receipts and Expenditures, from May 9th, 18G4, to December 31st, 1865, 
143-144. — Objects for which a balance has been reserved, 144-145. — Total value of all the Re- 
ceipts and Expenditures of the Commission, 145. — List of Contributors of the $35,000 Dona- 
tion from Boston in the winter of 1863, 145-149.— List of the Principal Cash Contributors of 
St. Louis to the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, 149— 154.— Conclusion, 154-155. 



FII^AL REPORT 



"^tBttxn Sanitarg jB0mini$si0n, 



: CONTINUED FROM THE PUBLISHED REPORT OE MAY, 1864. ] 



CHAPTER I. 



Previous Reports of the Commissiox— The Mississippi Valley Saxitary Fair- 
Financial Report of the Fair— Letter of General Grant— The Names op 
THE Committees — Acknowledgement of the Western Sanitary Commission. 



The first reports of tliis Commission were made through tlie 
newspapers, being statements of its work in aid of the Govern- 
ment, during the first year of the war, in establishing hospitals 
at St. Louis, in furnishing them with sanitary stores, in sending 
supplies to the regiments in the field, and to the regimental and post 
hospitals at such military posts as were then established in Mis- 
souri, and wherever the Union armies had advanced; in furnishing 
hospital boats and procuring male and female nurses and additional 
surgeons to proceed to the first battle fields, to care for the sick and 
wounded, and bring them to places where they could be properly 
attended, and receive the treatment and provision for their comfort 
which patriotism and humanity alike required. These statements 



were accompanied with earnest appeals to the loyal men and women 
in the free States to contribute sanitary articles, both of clothing 
and food, for our brave troops in the field and in hospitals, and 
with accounts of what had already been received and distributed. 

In August, 1862, the Commission published its first pamphlet report, 
giving an account of its Avork, and its receipts and distributions to 
that date, and a description, with statistics, of the hospitals of 
St. Louis. 

In June, 1863, it published a further I'eport, in pamphlet form, 
of the work of the Commission, and of its receipts and distribu- 
tions to that date, with additional statistics of the hospitals ot 
St. Louis. 

In December, 1863, it published a pamphlet report of the visit 
of its President to the Freedmeii ot the JMississippi A^alley, and of 
the action recommended by him for their benefit, the organization 
of labor, and the leasing of the abandoned plantations. 

In June, 1864, during the progress of the Mississippi Valley Sani- 
tary Fair, it published a history of its labors, both in pamphlet 
and in book form, fi'om the beginning of the war to that date, 
the establishment of soldiers' homes, its charities to the refugees 
and freedmen, the multiplication of its agencies with the army, the 
continued demands upon it, and the reasons for the continuation 
of the work. 

In November, 1864, it published a pamphlet report upon the con- 
dition of the loyal white refugees of the South, the sufierings 
endured by them, the charities which it had dispensed for their 
benefit in connection with the Government, and the aid that was 
still further needed in their behalf. 

In the present publication it proposes to give a concluding report 
of its laboi-s, commencing with an account of the Mississippi Valley 
Sanitary Fair, and ending with the completion of its work as a 
Commission with the close of the year 1865. 



Ill the concludiug- chapter of its report of May, 1864, some account 
is there given of the reasons which led tiie Commission, in January 
of tliat year, to take measures for the holding- of a great Sanitary 
Fair, in St. Louis, the succeeding spring, by which it hoped to 
replenish its exhausted resources and continue its important work. 
The organization effected for the management of the enterprise, the 
erection of the Fair buildings, the generous contributions received, 
the successful opening of the Fair, and the encouraging prospect of 
its complete success, are there given. It remains, in this final report, 
to give the progress of the grand enterprise and its magnificent re- 
sults, by which this Commission has been enabled to continue its 
work, even beyond the end of the war, for the benefit of the 
scarred veterans and heroes, who ai-e not all yet mustered out of 
the service, and who are still returning through this city to their 
homes, and to report the continuance of its labors from that date 
to the end of the great service in which it has been engaged. 

On the 17th of May, 1864, the immense building erected for the 
holding of the Fair, occupying the whole of Twelfth street from 
Olive to Saint Charles streets, with its wings on Locust street, 
filled with its splendid contributions of merchandise, art, and 
manufactures, ornamented with flags, trophies, and mottoes, with 
arbors of evergreens and flowers, and superintended by fair ladies 
and noble men, was opened to the public with apin-opriate in- 
auguration ceremonies, and was immediately thronged with multi- 
tudes of interested visitors. For three weeks the influx of people 
from St. Louis and the neighboring country, and from the towns 
and cities of the adjoining States, was constant; and the building^ 
in all its departments — its refreshment saloons, its gallery of fine 
arts, its counters for the sale of merchandise, its floral park, its 
room for trophies of the war, its exhibition of agricultural imple- 
ments, of sewing machines, of works of art, and of the gold 
and silver bars from Nevada — was filled with multitudes, who 



passed through the various walks and aveuues, purchasing and 
admiring what they saw, from morning till evening, until the close 
of the Fair in the early part of June. It was a pleasant scene 
to witness the Fair in the evening, when the throng was usually 
the greatest, the whole building lighted with gas, the people passing 
in crowds through its various avenues, engaged in animated con- 
versation, or making purchases Irom the well filled departments, a 
splendid band of musicians in an upper gallery filling the air with 
music, the walls covered with the names of the leading Generals 
of the Union armies, and of the battle fields on which they had 
achieved their renown; and the groups of salesmen and saleswomen, 
the first citizens in the community, and their wives and daughters, 
engaged in the business of traffic for so noble and praiseworthy 
an end. No written description can begin to do justice to the 
grand exhibition, but it will be long remembered by those who 
participated in its labors; by its committees, some of them coming 
away from Massachusetts to aid in the enterprise; and by the hun- 
dreds of thousands of visitors, who gave their presence, their 
sympathy and their money to aid the grand object for which the 
Fair was held. Among these were the loyal merchants and bankers 
of St. Louis, who were the main strength and support of the 
undertaking; the commanding General of the Department and other 
oflScers of the army, stationed at St. Louis, or co-operating from 
their distant posts; the members of the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission; the loyal ladies of St. Louis, including the members of 
the Ladies' Union Aid Society, the Freedmen's Aid Association, 
the Ladies' Loyal League, and the teachers and pupils of the Uni- 
versities, the Colleges, the Female Academies and the Public Schools 
of the city, all of whom, in their several spheres, contributed to 
the grand results of the Fair. 

The following report of the work accomplished, ajid of the pecu- 
niarv results of the Fair, was made by Major W. F. Brinck, 



Secretary pro tern., and published, iu connection witli an acknow- 
ledgement of the Western Sanitary Commission, in the Missouri 
Democrat, and in pamphlet form, soon after the accounts of the 
enterprise were settled. These accounts were carefully kept, as far 
as they go, by the Corresponding Secretary of the Fair, Major 
Alfred Mackey ; the Treasure)-, Samuel Copp, Jr., and by the 
Secretaries and Treasurers of the various committees, from whose 
books the whole was made up, with great diligence and accuracy, 
by Major Brixck. The account of the donations to the Fair was 
not included, and the difliculty of making up such an account at 
this late date, is explained further on. 

It is due to the magnitude and importance of this work, that 
the financial repoi't of Major Brinck should have a place in this 
final report of the Western Sanitary Commission, and that the 
names of the workers who carried on the enterprise to a successful 
conclusion, should find a more permanent record in these pages. 
It is also due to those who contributed so generously, in goods 
and money, to the undertaking, that they should have the means 
of referring to it, and to the workers by whom it was carried 
forward, as a matter of congratulation to themselves and their 
children, of what was accomplished for the soldiers of the armies 
of the Union, by the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair. 

FINANCIAL EEPOET OF THE FAIR. 

To Major General W. S. Rosecrans, 

President 3fississippi Valley Sanitary Fair : 

In pursuance of the order of the Executive Committee, the follow- 
ing final report of the details and results of the Mississippi Valley 
Sanitary Fair is respectfully submitted : 

A meeting was held February 1, 1864, at Avhich was inaugurated the 
preliminaries for the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, by a number 



6 

of patriotic and noble-hearted ladies and gentlemen, wlio recognized 
the imperative necessity of aiding, in a substantial manner, the her- 
culean and self-imposed task of the Western Sanitary Commission, in 
their great labor of aiding our brave and noble soldiers, who have so 
gallantly sustained, upon many battle fields, the honor of our glorious 
stars and stripes. 

The results of their generous labors are exhibited as follows : 

The items show the receipts from the select committees and depart- 
ments : 

Proceeds of fourteen gold and silver bai's received from Story county, 

Nevada Territory $i4,725.88 

Proceeds of one gold and silver bar, received from Onnsby 

county, Nevada Territory 716.05 

Cash from Dry Goods Committee 19,548.50 

Cash from Grocers' Committee 10,755.00 

Cash from Marine Committee 13,100.00 

RECEIPTS FROM XIIE GEKEUAL REFRESHMENT COMMITTEE. 

Cash from the New England Kitchen $6,284. 18 

Cash from the Holland Kitchen , 4,711 . 90 

Cash from the Confectioners I,o45.80 

Cash from Lippincott's Soda Fountain 627.20 

Cash from O'Brien's Soda Fountain 150.00 

Cash from Eobinson's Cream Mead 22.50 

Cash from the Cafe Laclede 8,226 . 68 

Goods turned over to combination sale 313.50 

Total $21,681.70 

FROM COMMITTEE ON DRAMA AND PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 

Cash $6,102.78 

FROM PUBLIC SCHOOL COMMITTEE. 

Cash $1,296.65 

Entrance fee of pupils 530.80 

Entertainment at Mercantile Library Hall 609.53 

Sales at the Fair 2,873.90 

Turned over to combination sale 297.99 

Total $5,608.87 



RECEIPTS FROM C03IMITTEE ON CHARITABLE INTSITUTIONS. 

Cash $7,033.75 

Goods turned over to combination sale 1,039.95 

Goods turned over to Western Sanitary Commission 1,600.00 

Total $9,673.70 

RECEIPTS FROM THE FLORAL DEPARTMENT. 

Cash $7,144.80 

Goods turned over to combination sale 901 .00 

One share Agricultural and Mechanical Association Stock.. 50.00 

Total $8,095 . 80 

FROM BOOK AND STATIONERY COMMITTEE. 

Cash from sales at the Fair $5,200.00 

Goods turned over to combination sale 3,178.00 

Goods turned over to Western Sanitary Commission 1,281.00 

Total $9,659.00 

FROM DRUG AND PERFUMERY COMMITTEE. 

Cash from sales at the Fair $3,097.90 

Cash contributions 3,036 . 00 

Goods delivered to combination sale 1,265.92 

Total $7,3989 2 



Cash from Millers' Committee 4,595 . 75 

Cash from Iron and Steel Committee 8,293.44 

FROM CARRIAGE, SADDLERY AND HARNESS COMMITTEE. 

Cash $4,547.55 

Carriage turnet'l over to Smizer Farm Committee 600.00 

Whips turned over to combination sale 42.00 

Total $5,189.55 



8 

FROM WINE AND BEER COMMITTEE. 

Cash $3,203.35 

Goods turned over to Sanitary Commission 2,192.50 

Total $5,395.85 

FROM HEBREW SANITARY AID SOCIETY. 

Cash. $3,085.45 

FROM SOAP, CANDLE AND LARD OIL COMMITTEE. 

Cash $2,155.85 

FKOM STOVES, TINAVARE AND GAS FITTING COMMITTEE. 

Cash, gas fitting and goods turned over to Sanitary Com.. $7,867.64 

FROM CHINA AND (GLASSWARE COMMITTEE. 

Cash $2,394.40 

FROM FREEDMEN'S AND REFUGEES' COMMITTEE — DIVIDED AS FOLLOAVS : 

Donations to Freedmen $6,115.36 

Donations to Freedmen and Refugees 7,254.70 

Donations to Refugees 3,020.05 

Books turned over to Sanitary Commission 330.00 

Total $16,720.11 

FROM COMMITTEE ON FINE ARTS. 

Cash $7,919.60 

Goods turned over to Western Sanitary Commission 985.00 

Goods turned over to Smizer Farm Committee 5,600.00 

Goods sent to Quincy Fair 80.00 

Goods turned over to combination sale 1,358.50 

Total $15,943.10 

From Ladies' Furnishing Committee 2,417.50 



9 

FROM HARDWARE AND HOUSE FURNISHING COMMITTEE, 

Cash $6,641 . 95 

Goods turned over to combination sale 563 . 79 

Total .... $7,205 . 74 

From Skating Park Committee 888.40 

From New Bedford Department 4,615 . 21 

[We cannot refrain from adding a word, in addition to the bare re- 
port of the receipts from this department. Here we have an evidence 
of the cordial sympathy, existing even in the far-distant city of New 
Bedford, for us and our most holy cause. The loyal and noble- 
hearted citizens of that city have most cordially responded to our 
appeal for contributions. While they are far removed from the pres- 
ence of war, they are with us in earnest sympathy and noble-hearted 
generosity, in every effort to relieve war of a portion of its horrors, 
and alleviate the miseries of our gallant soldiers. May God bless 
them for their valuable, timely and most welcome asistance. 

Our thanks are particularly due to Mr, and Mrs. T. Prentiss Allen 
and Mrs, Hathaway, whose kind labors will long be remembered,] 

RECEIPTS FROM MILLINERY COMMITTEE. 

Cash $668,45 

Goods turned over to combination sale 269 . 75 

Total $938.20 

FROM CHILDREN'S DEPARTMENT, 

Cash, including Fishing Pond $4,671.30 

Goods sent to Quincy Sanitary Fair 622.75 

Goods turned over to combination sale 291 . 55 

Total $5,585.60 

FROM AGRICULTURAL COMMITTEE. 

Cash $3,603.65 



10 

Receipts from Bed Linen Committee $2,396.05 

Receipts from Turnvereiu Committee 408.05 

Receipts from Premium Sliirt Committee 868.00 



Receipts from Sewing Machine Committee 1,242.00 



JEAVELKY AND SILVEll PLATE COMMITTEE. 

Receipts from Jewel ly and Silver Plate Committee, from 

sales, cash 5,136. 10 

Turned over to combination sale. .^ 439.50 

Total Ji^5,575 . 60 

FKOM OLD CURIOSITY SHOP AND ARMS AND TROPHIES. 

Cash $3,514.60 

Turned over to combination sale 1 ,051 . 70 

Total $4,566.30 

Cash from Bakers' Committee 3,415 . 25 

Cash from Produce Committee 7,329.49 

FANCY HAND- WORK COMMITTEE. 

Cash $4,343. 95 

Turned over to combination sale 328 . 00 

Total $4,671 . 95 

From Live Stock Committee, cash $3,260.85 

Turned over to Smizer Farm Committee 2,600 . 00 

Turned over to combination sale 466.00 

Total $6,226 . 85 

Paint and Oil Committee, cash $3,684.90 

New York Department, cash 2,937 . 05 

Goods turned over to combination sale 4,831 . 75 

Total $7,768.80 



11 

Committee on Swords, cash $4,511 . 00 

Turned over to combination sale 114.00 

Total $4,625.00 

From Associated Clerks, cash $3,958.92 

From Private School Committee, cash 6,012 . 65 

Goods turned over to combination sale 393.00 

Total $6,405.65 

Cash from Boot and Shoe Committee $9,485 . 83 

Goods turned over to Sanitarj^ Commission 2,422. 10 

Total $11,907.93 

Cash from sale of Tickets $39,884.95 

Cash from "Daily Countersign" 3,136.18 

Cash from Manufacturers' Committee 6,915 .00 

Cash fi-om Post Oflace at the Fair 307.95 

Cash from Furniture Committee 4,119 . 10 

Cash from Government Employees 12,856 . 95 

CLOTHING AND FURNISHING COMMITTEE. 

Cash from Cloth, Clothing and Furnishing Committee 5,933.40 

Goods turned over to combination sale 520.50 

Total $6,453. 90 

Cash from Wood and Coal Committee 882.25 

Receipts from Tobacco and Cigars Committee, cash 7,212.20 

One liorse turned over to the Smizer Farm Committee 1,000.00 

Total $8,212. 20 



Cash received through the Central Finance Committee, including 
the proceeds from the Smizer Farm and grand closing combination 
sale, and of the sale of tickets, amounts to about $315,000. This sum 
is not carried out as receipts, from the fact that the amount has been 
credited under separate heads. 



12 

The duties of this Committee have been so varied and arduous tliat 
a mere mention of the amount of moneys that have passed through 
their Treasurer's liauds scarce does them justice. For this reason 
we are induced to copy the following' resolution, passed by the Execu- 
tive Committee, on motion of Mr. Chapman : 

Resolved, That the Executive Committee fully appreciate the arduous 
duties that have devolved upon the Central Finajice Committee, and 
that they have discharged their duties with great ability, for Avhich 
this Committee extends its warmest thanks. 

Total amount of cash received through the Smizer Farm Committee, 
the grand closing combination sale, the several select committees, and 
from miscellaneous cash donations, including the silver bars from 
Nevada Territory $605,505. -JO 

EXPENSE ACCOUNT. 

Cost of building $-20,434.60 

llefreshment departments 10,158.77 

Traveling agents 521 . 50 

Sj)rinkling streets 200.00 

Ribbon for and gilding horse shoes 284 .00 

Amount paid on donated goods 150.00 

Music 2,1 13 . 33 

Gas 1,026.55 

Decorating 2,366.28 

Labor at Fair building 620 . 95 

L. Dolman, on account of moving hay scales 166.30 

Expenses incurred by Finance Committee 1,576.24 

Incidental repairs of Fair building 103.00 

United States flags lost and damaged 681 .00 

Expenses attending opening ceremonies 107 .00 

Postage account 1,119.25 

Freight, being charges advanced to Eastern roads 276.09 

Sawdust 140.40 

Advertising and printing 8,137.90 

Expense of selling tickets 480.00 

Expense of storekeeper 798 . 10 

Insurance 66 . 00 

Expense incurred by returnijig goods sent on exhibition 173.00 

Expenses incurred by Ladies' Executive Committee 2,102.38 

Captain Dean, of New York 250.00 

Charges on silver bars from Nevada Territory 764.00 

Expenses incurred by Floral Department 1,751 .49 



13 

Expenses incurred by Art Gallery Committee 655.80 

Expenses incurred by Smizer Farm Committee 1,073.35 

Expenses incurred by closing combination sale 717.95 

Expenses incurred by Live Stock Committee 421.30 

Expenses iucui'red by sundry select committees 492.00 

Contingent expenses, to-wit : 

Salary of Secretary, Storekeeper, Clerks, and for stationery. . 4,162.70 

Total $64,191.28 

RECAPITULATION. 

Cash $605,505.20 

Goods sent to Quincy Fair 702 . 76 

Donation of labor and material to the Directing Secretary. . 2,623.23 
Goods turned over to the Western Sanitary Commission 

by the Storekeeper $1,140.50 

Goods turned over to the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission by Committees 8,810 . 60 

To Commission — total 9,951 . 10 

Total receipts $618,782.28 

Total expenses 64,191.28 

Total $554,591 .00 



Mr. President : In closing this Report, we feel justified, from 
the great success of our Fair, to claim for it larger comparative re- 
ceipts than that of any Sanitary Fair that has been held in the United 
States. For example, the city of St. Louis, situated comparatively 
upon the frontier of loyalty, has raised about $3.50 for each inhabi- 
tant, while the cities of New York and Philadelphia, at their Fairs, 
raised about $1.67 for each inhabitant. This fact should induce the 
loyal ladies and gentlemen who inaugurated and consummated this 
noble and philanthropic enterprise, to feel an honest pride in their 
labors, and to nerve themselves for future efforts in the good cause 
of assisting our gallant soldiers, and sustaining our National Gov- 
ernment in this hour of trial. 

All of which is submitted, with our congratulations for the suc- 
cessful termination of our labors. 

JAMES E. YEATMAN, 
Chairman Executive Committee. 

W. F. Brinck, 

Corresponding Secretary pro tern. 



14 

In connection with tlie foregoing- statement it would be inter- 
esting to give an account of the donations to the Fair, in money 
and goods, from whicli these receipts were derived, the names of 
the contributors and of the communities and parts of the country 
contributing, but the absence of the Corresponding Secretary of 
the Fair, Major Mackey, who resigned his position before the 
exhibition and sales were concluded, and removed elsewhere, tlie 
unfinished condition of the books and records, and the different 
hands in which they were kept and still remain — some of them 
not accessible to the writer of this report — place it out of his 
power to give the full and accurate account of these donations and 
their sources, which would be necessary, if any detailed account at 
all were attempted. Besides this, it would greatly increase its 
extent and volume to give these particulars, and the best that is 
possible under the circumstances is to refer to the receipts of the 
Fair as bearing an accurate proportion to the contributions received, 
the kinds of merchandise and other articles, for the care and sale 
of which committees were formed, indicating the character of that 
class of donations, and the total contributions in money, being indi- 
cated by the cash receipts of the Fair, after deducting the amount 
received from the sale of tickets of admission, both at the entrance 
and to the art gallery and curiosity shop, and the proceeds of the 
several refreshment saloons — (Cafe Laclede, Holland and New Eng- 
land Kitchens,) the Skating Park, Lemonade and Soda Fountains, 
Stereopticon, '-Daily Countersign," the Drama, Amusements, School 
Exhibitions, Post OflB^ce, and some other similar sources of profit, 
easily separated from the contributions of goods and money by con- 
sulting Major Brinck's report. 

It may, however, be stated in general terms, that citizens of 
Boston, New Bedford, Providence, Salem, Worcester, New York, 
Brooklyn, Philadelphia and Saint Louis, besides many smaller cities 
and towns, were munificent in gifts, and that many valuable 



15 

trophies of the war aud douatious in money were received from the 
army. Fifteen gold and silver bars, amounting to over $45,000, were 
received from Nevada Territoiy, and several shipments of goods were 
sent also from England and Germany by generous sympathisers in 
our cause. The generositj'' of our people, in their earnest support 
of the armies of the Union, during the recent struggle for national 
existence, their sympathy and aid in sanitar}^ and religious work for 
the sick and wounded soldiers, and their noble charities for the 
freedmen and homeless Union refugees, are without a parallel in 
history. Besides these liberal contributions to the Mississippi Valley 
Sanitary Fair, the Western Sanitary Commission had been the 
recipient of hundreds of thousands of dollars, in money and sanitary 
goods, from the same patriotic sources, during the whole progress 
of the war, and the confidence of the communities, who have thus 
nobly sustained and supported its efforts, in the disinterested integ- 
rity and fidelity with which it claims to have fulfilled the trusts 
committed to its charge, will doubtless be fully satisfied with the 
account rendered of its stewardship, in the various published reports 
it has made from time to time, down to its i^reseut concluding 
and final report. 

The statement given of the pecuniary results of the Fair conveys 
but a feeble impression of the activity and industry, that for more 
than three weeks of the exhibition and sale, and for many previous 
weeks, characterized all the committees engaged in it. The names 
of the various committees, and of the individuals who served so 
earnestly aud devotedly in their several departments, will be found 
embodied further on, in this chapter. 

It may be stated, as au interesting feature of the grand exhi- 
bition, and as a mark of the change of public sentiment, that 
colored soldiers from the regiments stationed at Benton Barracks 
performed guard and fatigue duties in and around the Fair build- 
ings ; generous donations in money were made by several regiments 



16 

of colored troops iu aid of the refugees ' and freedmen's depart- 
ment, and many colored people visited the Fair and made purchases 
of goods ; and, although one or two manifestations of the old preju- 
dice occurred on the part of individuals, the prevailing sentiment 
was liberal, humane and tolerant towards this hitherto proscribed 
race. The freedmen and refugees' department was well supplied 
with donations. The committee in charge of it was composed of 
ladies and gentlemen of the highest standing iu the community, 
and their work was accomplished in the most satisfactory manner. 
It is proper to mention, also, that the Fair received, at its inaugu- 
ration and commencement, the favorable influence of Lieut. General 
Grant, who was present in St. Louis at that time, and in response 
to an invitation to be present at a public meeting, sent the follow- 
ing reply, heartily endorsing the labors of the Western Sanitary 
Commission, and appi'oving of the objects for which the Fair was 
held : 

"St. Louis, Mo,, January 31, 1864. 
"Dr. W. G. Eliot, George Partridge and others, 

" Western Sanitary Commission : 

" Gentlemen : Your letter of yesterday, requesting my presence 
at a general meeting of the loyal citizens of St. Louis, on Monday 
evening, to make arrangements for a " Grand Mississippi \^alley 
Sanitary Fair," for the benefit of the sick and wounded of the 
"Western armies, is before me, I regret that my already protracted 
stay in this city will prevent any longer delay from my public 
duties, as it would afford me the greatest pleasure to advance, 
in any manner, the interests of a commission, that has already done 
so much for the suffering soldiers of our armies in the West. The 
gratuitous offerings of our loyal citizens, at home, to our brave 
soldiers in the field, through the agency of Sanitary Commissions, 
have been to them the most encouraging and gratifying evidence that 



17 

whilst they are riskiug life and health for the suppression of this 
most wicked rebellion, friends, who cannot assist with musket and 
sword, are with them in sympathy and heart. 

"The Western Sanitary Commission has distributed tons of stores 
(amounting- to thousands) to the armies under my command. Its 
voluntary offerings have made glad the hearts of many thousands 
of wounded and sick soldiers, who otherwise would have been 
subjected to severe privations. Knowing the benefits already con- 
ferred on the army by the Western Sanitary Commission, I hope 
for a full and enthusiastic meeting to-morrow night, and a "Fair" 
to follow, which will bring together many old friends who have 
been kept apart for the last three years, and unite them again in 
one common cause — that of their country and peace. 
" I am, gentlemen, 

" With great respect, 

" Your obedient servant, 

"U. S. GRANT, 
" Major General United States Army." 

The best description of the Fair that i-emains may be seen by 
those who have the numbers of the Countersign, a daily paper 
published and sold at one of the counters, within the building, each 
day and evening of the grand exhibition. This literary product 
of the Fair was edited by Miss Anna C. Brackett, assisted by 
Mrs. E. W. Clark and Mrs. S. A. Ranlett, as managers, and 
was filled with articles of intei-est, mostly original contributions 
from the editor and her friends, with notices of the different depart- 
ments of the Fair, and of the events transpiring in connection with 
it, and with advertisements of the goods on sale. It was conducted 
with spirit; its articles were animated, sprightly and well written, 
and it was also a pecuniar}^ success, and made a handsome addition 
to the genei'al receipts of the Fair. 



18 

The following list of persons comprises the officers, managers, 
committees and principal workers of the Mississippi Vallej- Sanitary 
Fair, who initiated, planned and carried forward to a successful 
termination this noble entei"prise of patriotism and benevolence, 
from its inausuration to its close : 



OFFICERS OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SANITARY FAIR. 



Major General W. S. Koseckans, President. 
Governor "Wii.lard P. Hall, First Vice President. 
Ex-Mayor Chauncey I. Filley, Second Vice President. 
Brigadier General Clinton B. Fisk, Third Vice President. 
Mayor James S. Thomas, Fourth Vice President. 
Brigadier General J. W. Davidson, Fifth Vice President. 
Samuel Copp, Jr., Treasurer. 
Major Alfred Mackey, Corresponding Secretary. 

HONORARY MEMBERS. 

His Excellency, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. 
Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, Vice President of the United States. 
The Honorable, the Governors of the several loyal States. 
Lieutenant General U. S. Grant, commanding, &c. 

standing committee — (members western sanitary commission.) 

James E. Yeatman, George Partridge, 

Wm. G. Eliot, Carlos S. Greeley, 

John B. Johnson. 

EXECUTIVE committee. 

James E. Yeatman, Chairman, William Mitchell, 

J. H. Lightner, William Adriance, 

E. W. Fox, George E. Leighton, 

Samuel Copp, Jr., M. L. Linton, 

George D. Hall. William H. Benton. 



19 



S. K. Filley, 
Charles B. Hubbell, Jr. 
James Blackman, 
William D'CEnch, 
William Patrick, 
J. 0. Pierce, 
Gustavus W. Dreyer, 
H. A. Homeyer, 
D K. Bonner, 
Adolphus Meier, 
Charles Speck, 



Dwight Durkee, 
Amadee Yalle, 
Wyllys King, 
George P. Plant, 
Morris Collins, 
J. C. Cabot, 
N". C. Chapman, 
John D. Perry, 
S. H. Laflin, 
James Ward. 



EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF LADIES. 



Mrs. 

Miss 

Mrs. 



Chauncey I. Filley, President, Mrs. V. P. Van Antwerp, Cor. Sec'y, 
Anna M. Debenham, Kec. Sec'y, Miss Phoebe W. Couzins, Cor. Sec'y, 
Mrs. Samuel Copp, Jr., Treasurer. 



Eobert Anderson, 
George Partridge, 
J. E. D. Couzins, 

E. M. Weber, 
Truman Woodruff, 
Clinton B. Fisk, 

F. A. Dick, 
Alfred Clapp, 
Dr. E. Hale, 

A. S. W. Goodwin, 
H. T. Blow, 
Amelia Reihl, 
N. C. Chapman, 
Washington King, 
S. A. Eanlett, 
T. B. Edgar, 
C. S. Greeley, 
W. T. Hazard, 
Charles D. Drake, 
William McKee, 
Samuel C. Davis, 
Gen. W. S. Eosecrans, 



Mrs. Charles Eggers, 

" Dr. O'Eeilly, 

" S. B. Kellogg, 

" A. S. Dean, 

" Eombauer, 

" Dr. Haeussler, 

" Adolphus Abeles, 

" F. P. Blair, 

" Elizabeth W. Clarke, 

" H. Dreyer, 

" John Wolff, 

" Ulrich Busch, 

" John J. Hoppe, 

" William D'CEnch, 

" Adolphus Meier, 

" E. H. Morton, 

" E. W. Fox, 

" John C. Vogel, 

" E. Barth, 

" H. C. Gemp, 

" 0. D. Filley, 

" Henry Stagg. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND MACHINERY. 



Isaac L. Garrison, 
William M. Plant, 
Samuel Gaty, 
Charles Cronenbold, 
O. D. Filley, 
Benjamin Phillibert, 



D. K. Ferguson, 
William D. Marshall, 
Theo. Krausch, 
H. M. Woodward, 
Charles J. McCord. 



4 



20 



ARMS AND TKOPHIES. 



Gen. A. C. Fuller, Adj'tGen. of Ills., 
Gen. N. B. Baker, Adj't Gen. of Iowa, 
Gen. A. Gaylord, Adj't Gen. of Wis., 
Col. O. Malncros, Adj't Gen. of Min., 
Col. G. Dudley, Adj't Gen. of Kansas, 
Col. F. D. Callander, Commanding 

St. Louis Arsenal. 
Col. Wm. Meyers. 
John Knapp, 
William McKee, 
Theo. Olshausen, 



Chas. G. Kamsey, 
E. n. E. Jameson, 
J. 0. Broadhead, 
George A. Maguire. 
H. E. Dimick, 
Henry Eolsom, 
W. A. Albright, 
J. W^ King, 
Com. Hull, 
S. B. Shaw, 
William K. Strong. 



BED LINEN AND QUILTS. 



Mrs. T. B. Edgar, 

" James S. Thomas, 

" H. J. Moore, 

Mr. Eobert Holmes, 

" J. O. Pierce, 

" J. B. Sickles, 

" J. G. Copelin, 

" Edward Morrison, 

" Edward P. Kice, 

" M. W. Warne, 

" Samuel W. Eager, 

" Chauncey Johnson, 



Mrs. F. Hafkemeyer, 
" O. H. Piatt, 
" S. M. Edgell, 
Mr. J. H. Fisse, 
" Dr. Stevens, 
" H. Stark wether, 
" Wm. Morrison. 
Miss Alice Valle, 
Misses Pulliam, 
Miss Mary Gale, 
Miss A. S. Forbes, 
Mrs. H. C. Moore. 



H. Crittenden, 
Kichard Ennis, 
E. K. Woodward. 
David Keith, 
J. K. Williams, 
Maior C. C. Bailey, 
H. B. Graham, 
E. C. Aiken, 
M. S. Holmes, 
J. Mclntyre, 
Thomas Howard, 
Major Wm. S. Pope, 
Mrs. W. T. Hazard. 
" C. S. Pennell, 
" S. Kich, 
" H. Cunningham, 
" G. S. Blake, 
*' P. Fales, 
" Frank Childs, 
" E. 0. Goodman, 
" Lid a Eich, 



Mrs. J. D. Leonard. 

" G. P. Strong, 

" J. C. Maginnis, 

Miss Mary Beedy, 

" Kate Post, 

" Laila Morean, 

" Lou Woodward, 

" Lydia M. Luney, 

" Henrietta Capen, 

" Mary Frisbeo, 

" Mary H. Fales, 

" Phila Cozzens, 

" Nida Bailey, 

Mrs. E. P. Freeman. 

" L. Brawner, 

Miss Annie M. Murray, 

" S. L. Goddard, 

" Virginia Brawner, 

" Alice Godfrey, 

" C. E. Moore. 



21 



BOOTS AND SHOKS. 



James Blackmail, 
Hon. John How, 
Wm. B. Haseltine, 
James P. Fiske, 
B. Schroeder, 
Wm. Downing, 
S. Hale, 
H. F. Breed, 
M. P. Hanthorn. 
B. Christman, 
Daniel B. Clark, 
John A. Allen, 



D. B. Thayer, 
C. Pv. Stinde, 
George F. Ditman, 

E. Krepper, 
George Gaspers, 
S. D. Davenport, 
Edwin Brown, 
W. F. Anderson, 
Wm. B. May, 
John E. Heiin, 
Ferd. Meyer, 
Otto Oeters. 



CAKRIAGES, HARNESS AND SADDLERY-HARDWARE. 



Wesley Fallon, 
Lewis Espenshied, 
Geo. L. Stansbury, 
Henry F. Clark, 
Henry A. Hildebrand, 
John Kelley, 
E. B. Edgar, 
John Young, 
Casper Gestring, 
John Cook, 
John Wilson, 
N. T. Hanthorn, 
Casper Klute, 
Joseph Orndorfi", 
Jacob Scher, 
L. Deming, 



J. B. Sickles, 
Jacob Kern, 
E. A. Corbett, 
Jo. Murphy, 
Ira Stansbury, 
T. Salorgne, 
James Dougherty, 
Nathan Card, 
David Chandler, 

E. J. Sterling, 
J. Wood burn, 
Charles Burger, 
P. J. Peters, 
Henry Linstroth, 

F. Hackman. 

CENTRAL FINANCE COMMITTEE, 



E. W. Fox, Chairman, 

S. W. Ely, 
Hon. James S. Thomas, 
S. K. Filley, 
J. C. Cabot, 
Samuel McCartney, 
J. Eosenfeld, Jr., 
Charles Speck, 
James Archer, 
Charles M. Elleard, 
Charles F. Meyer, 
John H. Fisse, 
E. D. Jones, 



M. J. Lippman, Secretary, 
Assistant Secretary and Treasurer. 
Samuel Copp, Jr., 
John P. Camp, 
P. A. Ladue, 
C. J. Richardson, 
James Richardson, 
Truman Woodruif, 
Adolphus Bush, 
Morris Collins, 
E. O, Stanard, 
Ed. Wider, 
H. Creveling, 



22 



Wm. H. Maurice, 
Wm. M. Morrison, 
Wm. A. Hargadine, 
E. C. Pike, 
Theopliile Papin, 
Geo. W. Ford, 

Mrs. George Partridge, 
" Barton Able, 
" M. J. Hartnett, 
" A. Fales, 
" J. 0. Pierce, 
" n. S. W. Gleason, 



Mrs. Samuel W. Co])p, 
" Dr. A. S. Barne?, 
" H. C. Barnard, 
" Obear, 

Miss Susie Williams, 
" Bur tie MoUoy, 
" Catharine Sloan, 
" Marion Thompson, 

Mrs. A. S. Stoddard, 
" Dr. McGintie, 
" Pearce, 



John J. Roe, 
S. n. Laflin, 
August Benecke, 
Charles Stern, 
Major E. C. Creamer. 



CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. 



Mrs. George K. Budd, 

" John S. Thomson, 
Miss P. Delano, 
Mrs. N. Hauer, 
" S. F. Maltby, 
•' Lucien Eaton. 

children's department. 

Mrs. Pv. H. Stone, 

" E. W. Fox, 

" D. Catline, 

" H. Stagg, 

" Breckenridge, 

" J. C. Moody. 

" Sage, 

" J. Massey, 

" Anson Moore, 

" T. T. Moore, 

" J. H. Krum. 



Mrs. E. M. Weber, 
" Maltby, 
" Bramble, 
" Partridge, 

Miss Tillie Weber, 
" Dora Andrews, 
" Mollie Evill, 
" Maggie Johnson, 
" Julia Christopher, 

Samuel W. Eager, 
John A. Hodgman, 
F. A. Leonard, 
John M. Wherry, 
George H. Morgan, 
N. Wolffe, 
John Holmes, 
H. A. True, 



CHINA AND GLASS. 

Miss Lizzie Goodwin, 

" Gomes, 

" Lydia McCluney, 

" Lizzie McCluney, 

" Lizzie Fames, 

" So])hie Jacoby, 

" Kornick, 

" Ada Tuttle. 

CURIOSITY SHOP. 

Mrs. Robert Anderson, 
" Wyllys King, 
" H. B. Parsons, 
" Wm. Wightman, 
" George Partridge, 
" Dr. Shumard, 

Miss Mary Scollay, 
" Tillie Couzens, 



23 



John Saj'ers, 


Miss 


Bettie Broadhead, 


Adolphus Meier, .) r , 


" 


Mattie Edwards, 


Tilden Richards, 


" 


Howie Thompson, 


G. D'ffinch, 


•' 


Lizzie Shapleigh, 


D. J. Cist, 


" 


Helen Budd, 


S. C. Dutro, 


>< 


Laura Anderson, 


Charles E. King, 


" 


Julia Roberts, 


C. C. Bailey, 


a 


Mary Johnson, 


E. T. Merrick, 


" 


Belle Holmes, 


G. True, 


(( 


Chamberlaine, 


H. P. Wyman, 


<< 


Eliza Humphrey, 


T. D. Heed, 


" 


Ellen Filley, 


John A. Collier, 


" 


Annie M. Murray, 


George Godfrey, 


" 


Susie Blow, 


Eudolph Dreyer, 


a 


Emma Blaine, 


Theo. Heman, 


a 


Ella Drake, 


Eben Richards, Jr., 


ii 


Sue Benton, 


Wyllys King, 


■' 


Annie S. Hoyt. 


DRY 


GOODS AND CLOTHING. 


Mr. Sleith, 


Miss 


Elenora Taussig, 


" Speers, 


" 


Mary Ann Schild, 


Mrs. H. C. Gempp, 


a 


Lizzie Laumeier, 


Miss Lizzie Haeussler, 


" 


Lena Haeussler, 


Mrs. Samuel C. Lawrence, 


" 


Eva Fisher, 


" Dr. Haeussler, 


" 


Miller, 


" Dr. I. Eorbes, 


i( 


Eversoll, 


" Gus. Finklenburg, 


" 


Mary Kuster, 


" Gus. Haensclieu, 


" 


Hulda Schaumberg, 


" Gomes, 


" 


Adelhaid Schaumberg, 


*' Moon, 


ii 


Emma Smith, 


" Wolfe, 


" 


Hannah. 




DECORATIONS. 


John A. Beck, 


Miss Hattie Jones, 


H. R. WhiUnore, 


" 


Sue Benton, 


Anson Brown, 


iC 


Emma Edgar, 


T. T. Richards, 


" 


Emma Blaine, 


Hibbert, 


" 


Florence Chapman, 


Emile Hertingzer, 


ei 


Beckie Whittaker, 


Clifford Woodrooff, 


<< 


Mary Treat, 


John M. "Wherry, 


" 


Maria Filley, 


W. Comstock, 


" 


Jennie Filley, 


Geo. H. Morgan, 


K 


Mollie Evill, 


L. H. Brockway, 


" 


Mary Scollay, 


W. M. Fisher, 


" 


Mary McNair, 


Charles Kimball, 


Mrs. 


Barton Able, 


Theron Catlin, 


" 


Daniel Catlin, 



Jacob Vogdes, 

Stanley Woodrufl', 

H. H. Morgan, 

E P. Crane, 

Charles F. Holmes, 

Joseph A. Wherry, 

H. C. Morgan, 

John H. King, 

John Edwards, 

Wm. A. Albright, 

Messrs. Moon, Degg and others, 

Mrs. Chapman, 

" Lueien Eaton, 

" Cheever, 

" Enos Clark, 



James Eichardson, 
Eno Sanders, 
Eugene L. Massott, 
M. W. Alexander, 
F. W. Sennewald, 
E. Kandalls, 
Wm. B. Parker, 
Charles Bang, 
Theodore Kalb, 
H. B. Butts, 
W. H. Collins, 
J. Maguire, 
J. W. Frances, 
Charles Schuh, 



24 

Miss Belle Holmes, 

" Alice Partridge, 

" Ella Drake, 

" Lydia McClune}^ 

•' Clara Post, 

" Lillie Irwin, 

" Ellen Filley, 

" Annie McMurray, 

" Julia Roberts, 

" Alice Valle, 

" Maggie Johnson, 

" D'CEnch, 

" Lelia Morean, 

Mrs. E. P. Rice, 

" L. H. Brockway. 



URUGS AND MEDICINES. 



Mrs. 



Robert Barth, 

" U. Bush, 

" Hoffkeimer, 

" Gorton, 

" Friede, 

Miss B. Anderson, 

" L. Blickan, 

" Coleman, 

" J. Sproule, 

" A. Sproule, 

" M. Harris, 

" L. Harris, 

" Van Antwerp, 

" DCEnch. 



FANCY HAND WORK. 



Mrs. R. H. Morton, 

" Truman Woodruff, 

" Eggers, 

" Edwin Brown, 

" James Blackman, 

" James Brawner, 

" Brock, 

" Enos Clark, 

" Henry M. Dumphee, 

" Joseph Dana, 

" George D. Humphreys 

" N. M. Harris, 

" Chauncey Johnson, 

" K. M. Ryder, 



Miss Jennie Glover, 

" Lucy Graham, 

" Eliza Humphreys, 

" Nellie Hunt, 

" Carrie Haslam, 

" Hoffstetter, 

" Georgia Jenks, 

" Hattie Jones, 

" JIattie Kaufman, 

" Krache, 

" Jessie Little, 

" Lowry, 

" Carrie Morris, 

" M. S. Moore, 



25 



Mrs. Rowe, 

" C. H. Withington, 

" Henry P. Wyman, 

Miss Emily Bush, 

" Minnie Busli, 

" Bohn, 

" Susan Beeson, 

" Julia Chamberlain, 

" Frances Clark, 

" Annie D'CEnch, 

" Mary Evil, 

" Fitzpatrick, 

" Freeborn, 

" Frederow, 

" Eebecca Femby, 

" Lina French, 

" Susan Gardner, 



Miss McCorister, 

" McKee, 

" McNealy, 

" Kate Post, 

" Lina Schmidt, 

" Annie Smith, 

" Fanny Tuttle, 

" ■ Taussig, 

" Tamm, 

" Josephine Weigle, 

" Laurie Wiggins, 

" Kate Gore, 

" Fannie Holmes, 

" Ellen Holmes, 

' Clara Leigh, 

" Lizzie Moore, 

" Eliza Salter. 



FLORAL DEPARTMENT. 



Wm. H. Maurice, 
N. J. Colman, 
Henry Shaw, 
John S. McCune, 
Dr. B. F. Edwards, 
Thomas L. Salisbury, 
James Taussig, 
H. A. Homej-er, 
Henry Wesseley, 
John Withnell, 
Gert Goebel, 
John Goode, 
Henry T. Mudd, 
Wm. D'CEnch, 
E. E. Mason, 
Dr. L. D. Morse, 
Major J. F. How, 
Lucius J. Perry, 
Charles L. Dean, 
John H. Tice, 
G. Mattison, 
Henry Michel, 
Ferdinand W. Michel, 
Charles H. Evans, 
Dr. G. Engleman, 
Wm. Schray, 
Capt. N. MuUiken, 
Major H. S. Turner. 



Mrs. A. Hibbard. 

" Wm. F. Cozzens, 

" D. P. Hull, 

" Josiah Fogg, 

" B. R. Bonner, 

" Edward Chase, 

" H. Crittenden, 

" Dr. C. W. Stevens, 

Miss Hattie E. Eaton, 

" Ella Drake, 

" Mary Mack, 

Mrs. Wm. Grazer, 

" Dr. Alexander, 

" Edwin Ticknor, 

'• J. C. Barlow, 

" H. W. Leffingwell, 

" Wm. Patrick, 

" E. W. Fox, 

" Col. T. J. Haines, 

" John D. Perry, 

" George H. Rea, 

'' A. Barry, Alton, Ills., 

•' H. jST. Kendall, Alton, Ills. 

" Wm. Rumbold, 

" F. A. Quinette, 

" George L. Stansbury, 

•' Ben. Stickney, 

" D. R. Garrison, 



26 



Henry Keindfleish, Mrs, 

F. Muencli, Femme Osage, " 

Col. G. Husmann, Herman, •' 

A. Bryant, Sr., Princeton, Ills., " 

Wm. Hadley, Collinsville, Ills., 

Dr. V. Schenck, 

Charles McGuffey, 

Benjamin L. Chase, Miss 

M. G. Kern, Alton, Ills., 

A. Barry, " " 

George Booth, " " 

Dr. E. S. Hull, 

W. C. Flagg, " Mrs. 

H. N. Kendall, " " 

H. Goedekin, Belleville, Ills.. 

Anton Schott, " " 

H. Schroder, Bloomington, Ills., " 

F. K. Phcenix, 

C. K. Overman, " " 

K. H. Fell, 

J. Huggins, Woodburn, Ills.. " 

Frank H. Stevens, Miss 

Oliver Kussell, 

Charles L. Bush, " 

Mrs. Henry T. Blow, 

" Wm. H. Maurice, " 

" L. C. Dudley, " 

" John Withnell, 

" Beverly Allen, " 

" Lucien Eaton, " 

" I. H. Sturgeon, 

" Adolphus Meier, Mrs. 

" Robert Barth, Miss 

" Emil Ulrici, '•' 

" C. A. Cuno, " 

Mrs. Jonathan Jones, " 

" H. Paddelford, 
" John F. Hume, " 



T. L. Salisbury, 

Charles Boswell, 

Isadore Bush, 

James Patrick, 

Wm. Michel, 

G. Goebel, 

H. Kennedy, 

Belle Holmes, 

Susie Benton, 

Aspinwall, 

Minnie Oglesby, 

Sallie Wilson, 

Benjamin Horton, 

John J. Roe, 

Francis Miner, 

Samuel Cupples, 

John A. Allen, 

John Goode, 

E. R. Mason, 

G. N. Stevens, 

A. B. Tschorpe, 

Hattie Jones, 

Miss Helen D'CEnch, 

S. B. Pulliam, 

Neppie Allen, 

Susie E. Blow, 

Ella Fox, 

Albright, 

Anna C. Snead, 

Georgie E. Jenks, 

Frances L. Tuttle, 

Wm. H. Smith, Alton, Ills. 

Sarah Smith, " 

Julia B. Langdon, 

Lillie Irwine, 

Mattie Treat, 

Josephine Oglesby, 

Eliza Wilson. 



FINE ARTS. 



F. T. L. Boyle, (resigned;, 

H. T. Blow, 

C. G. Bingham, 

Isidor Bush, 

J. Sidney Brown, 

T. W. Blaekman, 

A. J. Conant, 



Mrs. A. S. Dean, 

" Frank P. Blair, 

" H. T. Blow, 

" James W. Brown, 

" Way man Crow, 

" S. A. Collier, 

'* Hugh Campbell, 



27 



M. J. DeFranca, 


Mrs. 


E. Cushman, 




A. J. Fox, 


" 


Wm. G. Eliot, 




Henry Hitchcock, 


" 


T. T. Gantt, 




G. M. Harding, 


'' 


John How, 




Dr. W. Tod Helmuth, 


c. 


Henry Hitchcock, 




H. E. Hoelke, 


" 


Judge JiOrd, 




E. Herzinger, 


" 


George E. Leighton, 




Theo. Kaufl'man, 


" 


John M. Krum, 




Julius Kummer, 


" 


P. R. McCreery, 




P^Kieholz, 


" 


T. M. Post, 




E. Long, 


" 


M. Schuyler, 




John G. Nichols, 


" 


S. Ridgley, 




Henry Pettes, 


t( 


John M. Taylor, 




S. A. Kanlett, 


" 


E. Y. Ware^ 




R. C. Kombauer, 


Miss 


D. Barnet, 




John R. Shepley, 


" 


Ellen Filley, 




Sol. Smith, 


" 


Jennie Glover, 




J. G. Scholten, 


" 


Peale, 




W. H. Tilford, 


i( 


Alice Partridge, 




B. F. Troxell, 


u 


H. B. Skeele. 




Dr. Phillip Weigle, 










FREEDMBN AND REFUGEES. 




Rev. H. A. Nelson, 


Mrs. 


Coolidge, 




Rev. "Wm. G. Eliot, 


" 


Dr. Hunter, 




Rev. G. Anderson, 


" 


0. H. Piatt, 




Wyllys King, 


Miss 


1 A. M. Debenham, 




James E. Yeatman, 


Mrs. 


Wm. Patrick, 




Hon. F. A. Dick, 


Miss S. F. McCracken, 




J. H. Parker, 


Mrs. 


Dr. McMurray, 




Rev. Henry Cox, 


" 


John McLean, 




Rev. T. M. Post, 


" 


S. Rich, 




Rev. W. H. Corkhill, 


" 


Matilda Austin, 




A. J. Conant, 


" 


S. Treadway, 




Lucien Eaton, 


" 


R. Scarritt, 




W. C. Wilcox, 


" 


Nathan D. Tirrell, 




Brigadier Gen. W. A. 


Pile, Miss 


i Mary Thomas, 




Rev. J. G. Forman, 


Mr. 


Almon P. Thompson, 




Mrs. Clinton B. Fisk, 


" 


Henry Levin, 




" Lucien Eaton, 


Mrs. 


, Col. Cavender, 




" Henry Johnson, 


" 


Col. Spencer, 




" C. C." Bailey, 


Miss 


i M. E. Howe, Cambridge, 


Mass. 


" H. A. Nelson, 


" 


Eliza Freeborn, 




" H. Kennedy, 


" 


Emilie Vail, 




" A. S. Forbes, 


" 


Ellen May, 




" Dr. Hauessler, 


" 


Ellen McKee, 




" J. Crawshaw, 


" 


Rachel Austin, 




" J. H. Parker, 


" 


Moina McLean, 





28 

Mrs. S. Wells, Miss Pet Dutcher, 

" Washington King, " Crawshaw, 

" W. T. Hazard, '• Maggie Alvord, 

" Enos Clark, " Meta Meyer, 

" Truman Woodruti', " Laura Smith, 

" Wm. McKee, Mrs. S. E. Weed, 

" L. Brawner, " E. Eowse, 

" N. Stevens, Miss Sallie A. Morgan, 

" J. S. Thomas, " Matilda M. F. Morgan. 

Miss' L. P. Allen, 

FURXITURE. 

William Mitchell, William Lindsay. 

John D. Finny, Chai-les Hafkemeyer, 

H. H. Curtis, William Hafkemeyer, 

Russell Scarritt, Charles Harland. 
B. R. McPherson, 

GOVKRNMENT EMPLOYEES. 

E. F. Eaton, Q. M. Department, S. D. Hooton, Post Office, 

John B. Davidson, Com. Department, W. E. Bacon, " " 

J. P. Smith, Ass't Treasurer U. S., Chas. B. Wilson, office of Capt. Geo 

H. H. WerMse, " " " W. Ford, A. Q. M., 

Wm. H. Megquier, office of Col. Wm. C. J. Eichardson, office of Capt. Geo. 

Myers, Cliief Q. M. W. Ford, A. Q. M., 

T. P. Perkins, office of Col. Wm. My- W. S. Linn, office Capt. Ford, A.Q. M., 

ers, Chief Q. M., G. O. Kalb, " " 

Wm. L. Giese, office Capt. E. Wuer- A. B. M. Thompson, Custom House, 

pel, A. Q. M., Ellsworth Miller 

James S. Yarnall, office of Capt. John Henry Brentanno, " 

L. Woods, Jr., A. Q. M., F. E. Udell, office Internal Revenue, 

George J. Cochran, office of Capt. R. George F. Glaser, " '• 

H. Hart, A. Q. M., A. B. Thompson, office Ass't Treasury 

Wm. Albright, office of E. D. Chap- United States, 

man, A. Q. M., D. H. Naylor, office of T. J. Haines, 

Lewis Coryell, office of Capt. Ingham Chief Com. Subsistence, 

Coryeil, A. Q. M., ^ G. W. Ballou, office Med'l Purveyor, 

L. W. Hill, office of Lieut. B. E. Fish, Thad S. Smith, Mustering and Dis- 

A. A. Q. M., bursing Officer, 

J. C. Scott, Jr., office of Capt. George E. Mulrennan, Ordnance Department, 

H. Smith, A. Q. M., Otto Becker, Pay Department, (Mo.,) 

Marshall Smith, at Post Office, J. W. Fisher, Pay Department, (Miss.) 

E. J. Cooke, " " John B. Mears, Military Prisons, 

Fred Volmer, " " Wm. K. Patrick, office Pro. Marshal. 

HARDWARE, CUTLERY, SADDLERY AND HOUSE FURNISHING GOODS. 

Alfred Lee, Chairman, F. E. Schnieding, 

Wm. H. Waters, Alex. Peterson, 



John C. Eust, 
A. F. Shapleigh, 
E. G. Piatt, 
M. N. Burchard, 
Thos. D. Ford, 
H. Eashcoe, 
G. Bremermann, 
David Chandler, 
G. A. Euhelmann. 
Charles Hume, 
Statins Kehrman, 
Wm. Baxter, 



George D. Hall, Chairman, 
James Archer, 
James M. Corbett, 
Morris J. Lippman, 
F. W. Cronenbold, 
Gerard B. Allen, 
Jules Valle, 



Mrs. E. W. Fox, 
" Wm. Downing, 
" John Marsey, 
" J. A. Allen, 
" D wight Durkee, 
" Judge Moody, 
" Edward "Warne, 

Miss Lizzie Albright, 



29 

F. W. Cronenbold, 

H. Tiefenbrunn, 

Herman'H. Meier, 

Samuel Cup))les, 

Jacob Tamm, 

Bent Carr, 

Julius Morrisse, 

E. J. ^Sterling, 

John A. Wilson, 

Sherry C. Hunt, 

Charles H. Jaques, manager. 



IRON AND STEEL. 



O. D. Filley, 
Giles F. Filley, 
Wm. Colcord, 
Henry Bakewell, 
John C. Hogan, 
John S. Thompson. 



JEWELRY AND PLATE. 



Miss Helen Albright, 

" Athalie Pease, 

" Helen M. Burtet, 

" Julia Juvet, 

" Emily Juvet. 

" Maria Davis, 

" Clara Skeele, 

" Ella P. Fox. 



LADIES' FURNISHING. 



Mrs. Washington Ivinj 

" S. Porter. 

" McKee, 

" Nelson, 

" Tredaway, 

" Cavender, 

" Rowse, 

" Pulsifer, 

" Littell, 

" Maurice, 

" Ware, 

" Eutter, 

" Mc Murray, 



Mrs. Pond, 

" Shaw, 
" Scarritt, 
" James Haur, 
" Abrams, 
Miss Lewis, 
" Christopher, 
" Julia Christopher, 
" Anne Marr, 
" Pulsifer, 
" Addie Tuttle, 
" Lucy Grenell. 



30 



Mrs. A. S. W. Goodwin, 
Miss Lizzie Constable, 
Mrs. E. O. Stanard, 
" J. Woodburn, 
" Dr. Barnes, 
" Henry Barnard, 
" Wm. Gorton, 
" S. E. Cummings, 



MILLINERY. 



Mrs. A. E. New mar Ic, 
Miss Mary A. Johnson, 
" Kate C. Fisk, 
" Maggie Pritchard, 
" Lizzie Hawkins, 
" Ann E. Harvey, 
" Mary J. Goodwin. 



NEW BEDFORD. 



Mr. T. P. Allen, 
Mrs. T. P. Allen, 



E. G. Pratt, 



Capt. J. K. Arnold, 

Maj. F. S. Bond, 

Col. N. Cole. 

Lieut. W. T. Clarke, 

R. Chauvenet, 

G. Cutter, 

J. P. Collier, 

Col. J. V. Dubois, 

Capt. J. P. Drouillard, 

Capt. F. Eno, 

Capt. R. S. Elliott, 

C. Ellis, 

T. L. Eliot, 

H. W. Eliot, 

A. Fleming, 

Maj. O. D. Greene, 

A. Godfrey, 

Lieut. W. S. Halleck, 

Lieut. J. J. Hunt, 

Capt. G. A. Halloway, 

John H. King, 

A. Meier, 

Major W. S. Pope, 

H. M. Post, 

A. Schulenberg, 

Capt. E. S. L. T. Thorns, 

A. B. Thomson, 



Mrs 


Hathaway, 


" 


R. M. Hobbs. 


NEW YORK. 


s. c 


. Mansur, 


Captain F. J. 


Dean, 


POST OFFICE. 


Miss 


E. B. Blaine, 


" 


E. Bridge, 


" 


C. Copp, 


" 


P. Couzins, 


" 


P. Cozzens, 


" 


F. Chapman, 


" 


H. Eaton, 


" 


M. J. Filley, 


" 


K. C. Fisk, 


" 


M. J. Goodwin 


" 


A. Godfrey, 


" 


A. Hoyt, 


" 


C. S. King, 


" 


M. Kauffman, 


" 


H. Jones, 


(( 


L. B. Irwin, 


" 


M. Mack, 


" 


C. Post, 


" 


A. Partridge, 


" 


L. Kidgway, 


" 


C. Ridgway, 


" 


K. Slawson, 


" 


K. Sweeney, 


" 


C. Skeele, 


" 


J. Stagg, 


It 


E. Schutz, 


(( 


L. Sohirmer, 



31 



G. W. Ware, 
H. R. Whitmore, 
J. S. Waters, 
Miss S. Benton, 



Edward Wyman, 
L. L. Bonham, 
C. S. Pennell, 
Wm. Chauvenet, 
R. L. Tafel, 
W. C. Wilcox, 
P. Fales, 



Miss M. Treat, 
" E. Tittman, 
" H. E. Wells. 



PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 



M. Plate, 

Mrs. E. W. Clark, 

Miss M. J. Cragin, 
" A. S. W. S. Bailey, 
" M. E. Brooks, 

Mrs. L. Boggs, 

Miss C. A. Little. 



William Patrick, 
John Brigham, 
Hon. John How, 



Charles Balmer, 

G. W. Parker, 

F. Ringling, 

Judge J. M. Krum, 

Judge Lord, 

Mr. Folsom, 

Mr. Charles Taussig, 



Horace H. Morgan, 
Ira Divoll, 
James A. Marlling, 
Carlos W. Mills, ' 
Wm. T. Harris, 
Mrs. C. S. Greeley, 
" A. L. Harrington, 



Mayor J. S. Thomas, 
Major Cozzens. 



PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. 



Mrs. Judge Lord, 
" Ringling, 
" Dick, 
" Lowe, 
" Cheever, 

Miss Dean. 



PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



Miss Hannah B. Stark, 
" Kate Wilson, 
" Lizzie J. Rountree, 
" Lizzie S. Childs, 
" Sarah A. Clark, 
" Anna C. Brackett. 



REFRESHMENT DEPARTMENT, 

Emhmdny Cafe Laclede, Holland Kitchen, Neiv Enffland Kitchen, Confectionery, 
Lippincott's Soda. Fountain, O'Brien's Soda Fountain and Eohinson's Cream 
Mead Fountain. 



CAFE LACLEDE. 



Mr. Josiah Fogg, 

" Wm. A. Doan, 

" H. M. Thompson, 

" David Nicholson, 



Miss Bell, 
Mrs. Coleman, 

" Collins, 

" C. 0. Drake, 



32 



Mr. A. S. Merritt, 
" Mellville Sawyer, 
" J. H. Andrews, 
" C. K. Anderson, 
" Philip Krieger, 
" Robert Charles, 
" Hugh Menown, 
" C. B. Lake, 
" E. S. Lippincott, 
" John O'Brien, 
" J. Keane, 

Mrs. Alfred Clapp, 
" Wm. A. Doan, 

Miss H. A. Adams, 

Mrs. Eobert Eagle. 
" S. B. Kellogg, 
'• J. Hodgeman, 
" Van Nayse, 
" R. Dougherty, 
" Vogel, 
" Hobbs, 
" Geo. K. Budd, 
" S. Ridgley, 
" G. W. Hathaway, 
" Otis West, 
*' S. Wells, 
" Wm. Patrick, 
" Wm. Clark, 
" J. N. Davis, 
" M. Bramble, 
" A. F. Shapleigh, 
" E. Scarritt, 



G. W. Dreyer, 
John Lody, 
Gustavus Hoeber, 
Mrs. Bertha Rombauer, 
" G. W. Dreyer, 



Mrs. S. L. Pinneo, 

" J. A. Smithers, 

" Shidy, 

" Charles H. Peck, 

" Ullery, 
Miss Young, 

" Hope, 
Mrs. Giles, 

" Shaw, 
Miss Belle Graham, 
Mrs. Bryson, 

" Miller, 

" Col. Fletcher, 

" McLean, 

" Hicks, 

♦' Wm. McKee, 

" 0. D. Filley, 

" Dr. O'Reilly, 

" J. E. D. Couzins, 

" Crandall, 

" J. Anderson, 

" R. S. Hart, 

" W. T. Cozzens, 

" Stanard, 
Miss Sue Beeson, 
Mrs. Dr. Houts, 

" John Campbell, 

" Chas. Ely, 

" McElwain, 

" Palmer, 

" James Patrick, 

" Treadway. 



HOLLAND KITCHENN. 



Mrs. Dr. F. Hausler, 
" A. Abeles, 
" John Worf, 
" Wm. D'(Ench, 
" John Hoppe. 



NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN. 



S. T. Hatch, 

George B. Kellogg, 

Chas. Whorf, 

J. S. Williams, 

Henry Blood, 

E. Hosford, Chicago, Ills., 



Mrs. Haywood and daughter, 
" Bradley, 
" Skinkle, 
" Parker, 
" Hide, 
" J. S. Williams, 



33 



Mr. 



Mrs. 



Pratt, 


Mrs. F. S. Williams, 


May, 


" Wallace, 


Fassett, 


Miss Wallace, 


S. G. George, 


Mrs. Eoberts, 


B. Gannett, 


" Chapman, 


H. Gibson, 


" Whedon, 


Currier, 


" Sweet, 


A. Strong, 


" Cooper, 


Benson, 


" Blood, 


Wheeler, 


" I. T. Green, 


J. Libby, 


Miss Barnhurst, 


G. A. Gannett, 


Mrs. Thomson, 


S. Kich and daughter, 


" Eainer, 


Coolidge, 


" Hall, 


S. Bonner and sister, 


" Welock, 


C. E. George, 


" Mathews, 


Catlin, 


" Dean, 


Currier and sons, 


" E. D. Foster, 


G. F. Tower, 


" Pennington, 


E. E. Tower, 


'• Greenwood, 


White, 


" Finney, 


L. B. Clark, 


" Keith, 


J. Libby, 


Miss P. Barnhurst, 


W. M. Brook, 


" Tower, 


M. E. Cummins, 


" Abbe Tower, 


H. B. Manford, 


" Betts, 


Howard, 


Mrs. McElvaine, 


Pearce, 


Miss Billings, 


Morgan, (B.T.C.) 


Mrs. Eoberts. 



PERSONS IN COSTUMES. 



Grandpa and Grandma Brown. 

Housekeeper. 

Aunt Debby. 

Aunt Debby Makepeace. 

Aunt Euth and Tabatha, Quakeresses. 

Aunt Mahitable, Mrs. Dr. Emerson. 

New England Blue Stocking. 

Mrs. Deacon Twitchele. 

Miss Prissy, the Village Dressmaker. 

Coz. Dorethy. 



Penelope Ann, Country 
Cousin. 



Abigail, 

Huldah, 

Jerushy. 

Miss Dorcas. 

Country School Marm. 

Fisherman Zekiel, the Deacon, Doctor. 

County School Teacher, the Farmer. 

Yankee Pedlar, Brother Jonathan. 

The Blacksmith. 

Two Yankees from Way Down East. 



CONFECTIONERY. 



A. H. Blanke, 
F. Walter, 
W. Stacy, 
Mrs. J. G. Waters, 
o 



Miss Helen Osborne, 
" Clara Leigh, 
" KateOber, 
" Lottie Eogers, 



34 



Mrs. F. H. Fletcher, 
" Carrie Hobbs, 
" Dr. Fellerer, 
" Mary Ryan, 

Miss Anna L. Clapp, 



Miss Mille Tirrell, 

" Meredith, 

" Taussig, 

" Minnie Shields, 

" Fannie Glover. 



SEWING MACHINES. 



Mrs. N. C. Chapman, Chairman, 

" Geo. K. Budd, 

" Dr. E. Hale, 

" Joseph Crawshaw, 

" Col. Benteen, 

" W. B. Garrett, 

" Barton Able. 

" Josiah Anderson, 
R. Wheeler, agent Grover & Baker 

Sewing Machine Company, 
A. Summer, agent Wheeler & Wilson 

Sewing Machine Company, 
Dean, agent Singer's Sewing Ma- 
chine Company, 
J. Gilbert Chapman. 

SHIRTS 

Mrs. T. C. Davis, 
Miss Phcebe Couzins, 
Mrs. M. E. Dimmick, 

J. E. D. Couzins, 

John How, 

H. T. Darrah, 

Dr. McMurray, 

Wm. Pond, 

M. Moody, 

Chapman, 

Z. F. Wetzel, 



Miss Jennie B. Glover, 
Lyman O. Dana, 



J. S. Short, agent Wilcox & Gibbs' 
Sewing Machine Company, 

L. Broad, agent Aiken's Knitting Ma- 
chine, 

Barton Able, 

Geo. A. Magwire, 

Miss Mary Thomas, 
Mary Magwire, 
Bessie Whittaker, 
Kitty Whittaker, 
Mary B. Treat, 
Eliza Stoddard, 
Florence Chapman, 

George Cutter, 



Mrs. 


Fride, 


n 


Dr. Haeussler, 


Miss C. Ledergarber, 


" 


Sallie Morrison, 


Mrs. 


M. E. Dimmick, 


" 


Geo. W. Curtis, 


<( 


Fletcher, 


Miss V. Hinton, 


Mrs. 


Michel, 


Miss Anna Horn, 


" 


Lizzie Haeussler 


SKATING PARK. 


Geor 


ge W. Ware. 



STOVKS, TINWARE, RANGES, GAS FITTINGS, ETC. 



John H. Lightner, 
G. F. Filley, 
John H. Beach, 
James Beakey, 
Dwight Turner, 
Wm. H. Couzzins, 
Fred. G. Neidringhaus, 



A. K. Farrett, 
Charles F. Whorf, 
Charles Cajacob, 
Andrew Geisel, 
J. Crawshaw, Jr., 
Benjamin Horton. 



A. S. W. Goodwin, 
Miss Anna Burke, 
" Sarah Burke, 



Henry Folsom, 
David Folsom, 



J. W. Booth, 
D. Catlin, 
S. Peltz, ■ 



Hugo Grimm, 
Max A. Krug, 



35 

80AP, CANDLES AND OIL. 

Frank Goodwin, 
Miss Minnie Vanzant, 
" Kate Brady. 

SWORDS. 

S. B. Shaw. 

TOBACCO AND CIGARS. 

W. J. Lewis, 
C. C. Mengel, 
M. S. Mepham. 

TURNVEREIN. 



John Paul, 
Gust Schurtz. 



WINES, ETC. 

Julius Herter, Chairman. 
[Balance of the Committee not reported.] 

WHITE LEAD, OIL, ETC. 

G. W. Banker, Chairman. 
[Balance of the Committee not reported.] 



Appended to the report of the Fair, the following acknowledg- 
ment of the Western Sanitary Commission was given, and will 
form a fitting conclnsion of this Chapter : 

*' The full report of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair having 
now been made, the Western Sanitarj^ Commission avails itself of 
the opportunity, in behalf of the sick and wounded, to thank all 
those whose generosity and labors have contributed to the remarka- 
ble result. When it was first proposed that such a Fair should 
be held, the suggestion seemed almost unreasonable. Our city had 
already contributed beyond its proportion iu the prosecution of the 
war, and in the support of its charities. It had scarcely recovered 
from that unexampled prostration of business which threatened, in 
the first two years of the strife, to blight all its prospects. Fears 
were also expressed that the disloyal element in the city would 



36 

be strong- enough to prevent any considerable success, and the pre- 
diction was confidentlj^ made that the expenses of a Fair would 
be more than the receipts. 

"On the other side, the urgent necessities of the sick and 
wounded, in the hospital and on the battle field, made an irre- 
sistible appeal, and long experience had taught that the people of 
St. Louis are never tired of giving while they have anything left. 
We felt sure that an appeal to their loyalty and humanity would 
not be made in vain, and that, with proper exertions, a hundred 
thousand dollars might be obtained. Under all the circumstances, 
such a result would have been considered a decided success. 

"What shall we say, then, when this magnificent sum of six 
hundred and eighteen thousand, seven hundred and eighty- two dol- 
lars is reported, placing at our disposal, after payment of all 
expenses, five hundred and fifty-four thousand, five hundred and 
ninety-one dollars, which will probably be swelled to five hundred 
and seventy thousand by subsequent receipts ? We confidently 
believe that no equal demonstration of patriotism has been made 
in any city of the Union since the war began. 

" To the wise management and indefatigable zeal of the officers, 
and of the executive and special committees, including in all not 
less than three thousand ladies and gentlemen, the credit is largely 
due, and they have reaped the reward of seeing the work prosper 
in their hands. Generous contributions were received from our 
sister cities, in almost every loyal State, of which report has been 
duly made, and for which our most cordial thanks are returned. 
But to the citizens of St. Louis itself, and the people of Missouri, 
including the military and the local government employees, must 
the unparalleled success of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair be 
mainly attributed. 

"When a whole community have been at work, and all have 
done their part so well, it is impossible to discriminate in our 



V 37 

expressions of gratitude. We shall eudeavor to prove, by the 
judicious expenditure of the funds intrusted to our care, that the 
generous confidence of our fellow citizens has not been misplaced. 
Almost every dollar received will be expended for the direct relief of 
suffering. To General Sherman's army alone, more than eighty thou- 
sand dollars worth of choice hospital stores have been sent, in the 
months of June and July, and an equal proportion to troops in 
other departments. 

"Our agents are carefully selected, and all distributions are 
directed so as to avoid waste or abuse. The funds received will 
be made to go as far and do as much good as possible, which is 
the best method of thanking the donors. 

'* The Ladies' Union Aid Society is kindly assisting us in our 
work, with the discriminating zeal which characterizes all its actions, 
and the Freedmen's Belief Society of this city is rendering import- 
ant aid, in that department of our labors, 

"In conclusion, we may be permitted to add that too much praise 
cannot be awarded to the officers and members of the city police, 
who spared neither time nor labor in the preservation of good 
order, during the whole continuance of the Fair. Our thanks are 
due to them individually, and as representatives of the municipal 
authorities, 

"With earnest prayers that the Divine blessing may rest upon all 

who devote themselves to the defence of our beloved country, and 

upon those who are striving to lessen and alleviate the suflerings 

of war, we subscribe ourselves, 

"Most respectfully, 

"J. E. YEATMAN, 
J. B. JOHNSON, 
C. S. GREELEY, 
GEO. PARTRIDGE, 
W. G. ELIOT. 
"St. Louis, August 16, 1864." 



CHAPTER II. 



The Commission Sui'plied avith Funds feom the Pkoceeds of the Fair— The Con- 
tinuation OF ITS Work— Supplies Sent to the Akmy of General Sherman- 
Acknowledgement, AND Views of the Commanding General— Appropriations 
to the Ladies' Union Aid Society, Ladies' Freedmen Relief Association, and 
War Relief Committee of St. Louis— The Smizer Farm Gift by the County 
Court of St. Louis— Establishment of a Soldiers' Orphans' Home at Webster, 
in St. Louis County— Supplies Sent to Union Prisoners at Andersonville, 
Ga.— Correspondence with General Sherman— Supplies Sent to Hospitals 
and Regiments at Memphis, Vicksburg, Helena, Duvall's Bluff, Little Rock, 
St. Louis, Etc., from May to December, 1864— Invasion of Missouri by General 
Sterling Price— Demands on the CoMiMissiON for Clothing and Hospital Sup- 
plies for the Union Troops— The Influx of Refugees at St. Louis— Their 
Necessities— Work for them at St. Louis and Other Points— Visits of Mr. 
Yeatman to Fields of Operation in the Valley of the Mississippi— Troops 
Sent to the Territories to Quell the Indians— Large Demands made fob 
Sanitary Supplies, especially of Vegetables and Anti-Scorbutics— Generous 
Shipments Forwarded to the Plains— Colored Soldiers Supplied— Acknow- 
ledgements— Women Nurses in the Hospitals— Mr. Yeatman's Plan of a 
Protestant Sisterhood of Charity— Acknowledgment of Donations. 



The net proceeds of the Sauitarj' Fair, amounting to over five 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, were paid over to the Treasu- 
rer of the Commission, C. S. Greeley, Esq., for its uses in the 
sanitary work of the array, the furnishing of supplementary supplies 
to the hospitals and to tlie troops, then penetrating the enemy's 
country, in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas, 
and sufiering for the want of many articles of comfort, not included 
in the army rations, and wliich onlj' the Sanitary Commission, by 
its agents and its facilities of transportation, could supply. This 
handsome sum, a portion of which was also intended for the relief ox 
sufiering among the Union refugees and freedmen, and for aid to 
soldiers' widows and orphans, came to the Commission at a time 
of real necessity, when its funds were well nigh exhausted, and the 
demands upon it were as pressing and constant as at any former 



39 

period of the war. It was also intended that a liberal portion of 
it should be shared with the Ladies' Union Aid Society, and 
Freedmen's Eelief Association, its fellow-laborers in the same field 
of humane work, both for the army and the other charities of the 
war, they having also shared lai-gely in the work of the Sanitary 
Fair. That the funds thus entrusted to it might be judiciously 
expended for the foregoing objects, the portion of it not needed for 
immediate use was placed at interest, by the Treasurer, upon good 
and sufficient securities, subject to the call of the Commission, when 
needed, and it was arranged that the whole amount should be used 
in such a manner as to carry on its operations for another year, 
or to the probable conclusion of the war. 

At the very time the Fair was being held, and during the sum- 
mer and autumn of 1864, the armies of the Western Division, under 
General W. T. Shkrman, were pi-ogressing towards the very heart 
of the enemy's country. Daltou, Tunnel Hill and Atlanta, were 
captured, the great march to the sea accomplished, and Savannah 
taken by our brave Western troops. From the taking of Chatta- 
nooga the Commission had kept agents at Nashville, Tenn., and 
Huntsville, Ala., and had forwarded many supplies to the front. 
As General Sherman went forward on his grand march through 
Dalton and Tunnel Hill, towards Atlanta, the demand for supplies 
increased, and large amounts of sanitary stores were forwarded. 
The following list of articles sent to General Sherman's army will 
give some idea of the work of the Commission at this period, and 
of the kind of aid and comfort given to our noble troops in the 
field by their friends at home, for whom they were fighting the 
battles of civilization and liberty. 



40 

ISSUES OF WESTERN SANITARY COMMISSION TO GENERAL SHERMAN'S 
ARMY, FROM MAY 1, 1864, TO NOVEMBER 1, 1864. 

33,814 caus assorted fruit and tomatoes. 
19,259 cans condensed milk and sugar of lemons. 
21,165 cans oysters, chickens and other meats and soups. 
32,313 bottles blackberry cordial, wines, ales and stimulants. 
780 bottles essences and flavoring extracts. 

7,710 bottles fruit sauces and jellies. 
16,550 gallons pickles. 
37,225 pounds crackers. 
33,880 pounds sauer krau'^e. 
23,607 pounds assorted dried fruit. 
10,981 pounds extract of beef and dried beef. 
20,859 pounds codfish and mackerel. 

3,515 pounds butter and cheese. 

8,471 pounds farina, corn starch, arrowroot, &c. 

4,190 pounds toast or zwiebeck. 

2,555 pounds spices. 

1,781 pounds sugar, tea, cocoa, broma, &c. 
15,777 barrels potatoes. 

1,775 ban-els onions. 

2,570 dozens eggs. ' 
22,579 shirts and drawers. 
10,300 pairs socks. 

535 pairs shoes and slippers. 

ARTICLES OF CLOTHING. 

350 yards material di-ess goods, domestics, &c. 
14,734 dozens buttons, thread and papers needles. 

4,368 combs. 

1,500 pounds disinfectantu. 

5,593 towels and handkerchiefs. 

1,050 bed sacks, &c. 
250 blankets and comforts. 
31,725 articles for hospitals and soldiers' homes. 

3,155 bandages, rags and lint. 
11,829 quires of stationery, paper and bundles envelopes. 

1,015 packages reading matter and books of instruction. 
20,573 miscellaneous articles. 

These articles amounted, in the aggregate, to hundreds of tons, for 
which transportation was furnished by the Government. The agent 



41 

who superintended the shipment, transmission and distribution of these 
supplies, were Mr. Joseph McCulloch, cashier and shipping clerk 
at St. Louis, Messrs. Albert Clark and H. B. Blood, agents at 
Nashville, and Mr. H. E. Collins, the general field agent of the 
Commission, with the army of General Sherman, and several assist- 
ants and detailed soldiers, acting under his direction. In the 
performance of their several duties, these gentlemen acted with 
great promptness, eflS^ciency and good judgment, and to the entire 
satisfaction of the Commission and the commanding General. In 
a letter of General Sherman to the President of the Commission, 
he makes this acknowledgment of the good accomplished by its 
labors, and of the faithful character of its agents : 

"I acknowledge, fully, that your Commission has done a world 
of good, and has enacted charity in that quiet and unostentatious 
manner that must command the love of all. And your agents 
have always acted with that subordination to authority, which is the 
result of *' union " — the Union that we strive for. 
" "With great respect, 

'' Your friend, 

"W. T. SHEEMAN, 

" Major General.^'' 

General Sherman was much embarrassed at times by the want of 
combination in sanitary labors, each State and county, and many 
religious societies and local associations, sending their own agents to 
the front with sanitary stores, to distribute them among the troops 
fi'om particular States or localities, burdening the military depart- 
ment with unnecessary labor, with the transportation of too many 
agents, and too many separate lots of stores, at a time when 
every railroad car and government wagon was needed for strictly 
military purposes, and when, by a combination of labor among 
the sanitary agencies, this work could have been much more expe- 
ditiously performed, with greater efiicieucy, economy and impartiality. 



42 

In a letter to Mr. Yeatman, on this subject, in the spring of 1864, 
General Sherman thus expressed his own views of the work of 
the Sanitary Commission : 

"My opinions on sanitary matters are well matured. The magnifi- 
cent contributions of our countrymen and countrj'^women exhibit 
a noble generosity and unbounded resources. But to apply the 
latter, requires system. The system adopted in the Fifteenth Army 
Corps has worked as smoothly and harmoniously as possible. In 
this plan, in which your Commission has co-operated so fully, you 
have received the aggregated donations, and given them to a single 
resident agent, who distributes to all parts of the army alike, 
through the commissioned surgeons and commanding officers. By 
tliis method, all soldiers receive their due share of ^ preventive ' 
stores [ anti-scorbutics and the like, ] as well as of hospital clothing 
and delicacies. Charity, like the dews of Heaven, should fall on 
all alike. Special charities in the army, by making distinctions, 
create jealousies and discontent. Besides, we have not the facilities 
of transportation and quarters to accommodate the representatives 
of the varied charities that approach us. Here I have not the 
means to transport to our front the munitions of war, and provis- 
ions also, lately necessary for warlike ends, and I have been 
embarrassed by the applications of all sorts of people, who come 
from every quarter, and would monopolize our railroad cars to 
reach the points of destination. To be effectual, the agents of 
religion and charity must be subordinate to the great ends and 
objects of the war. It is wonderful how men of sense still remain 
blind to this fact, and persist in going to the front, when every 
soldier feels that two hundred pounds of powder and oats are 
more necessary than that amount of human flesh and bones, how- 
ever intent on works of faith and charity. If the charities of the 
North will consolidate, and send me accredited agents, I will so 
instrvict them that their end may be attained, without a serious 



43 

disturbance of tlie military current ; but if States, counties and socie- 
ties, will insist on sending delegates and separate agents, we nrnst 
decline their services, however praiseworthy in the abstract." 

In accordance with the views of General Sherman, the contribu- 
tions of sanitary supplies for his army passed mainly through the 
agencies of the Western and the United States Sanitary Commis- 
sions, the United States Christian Commission acting chiefly as a 
religious body, in co-operation with the Chaplains of the army. 

Soon after the funds derived from the Sanitary Fair were received, 
the Commission appropriated lift)' thousand dollars to the Ladies' 
Union Aid Society to carry on its sanitary work in the hospitals, 
and its system of aid to soldiers' itimilies, and $1,000 per month 
to the Ladies ' Frcedmen's Relief Association for its work in aid of 
the poor families and orphans of freednien and colored soldiers. 

In all the v/ork of the Western Sanitary Commission, from the 
beginning of the war, it has always found ready and willing co- 
workers in both these societies. The hospitals of St. Louis and 
vicinity, and the families of soldiers, of refugees and of freedmen, 
have been constantly visited by their members, and the work of 
relief accomplished ; special diet kitchens were established at an 
early period, and carried on by the Ladies' Union Aid Society at 
Benton Barracks, and at Nashville, Tenn., as long as they were 
needed. Noble women have been sustained by it, as agents at the 
above posts, and at Jefferson Barracks, and in its work of charity 
to persons made helpless and dependent bj'^ the calamities of the 
war. In the conduct of the Fair, its President, Mrs. Alfred 
Clapp, and all its active members, labored most usefully and suc- 
cessfully with the Commission, being devoted to the same good 
work, in a sphere peculiarly suited to the labors of woman. The 
President of the Ladies ' Freedmen's Relief Association, Mrs. Lucien 
Eaton, and other active members of that society, acted with equal 
zeal and efficiency in the work of the Fair, and were in equal need 



of funds to carry on the work of cliai-ity and patriotism in which 
they wei-e engaged. For tliese reasons botli these appropriations 
were considered just and proper, and in accordance with the spirit 
and purposes of the Fair. 

A generous contribution was made to the Fair, by the St. Louis 
County Court, of the Smizer Farm, the pi'oceeds of which, as a part 
of the combination sales, amounted to forty thousand dollars. Con- 
sidering the source of this gift, and the large amounts received from 
St. Louis in other ways, it was thought proper to establish a 
Soldiers ' Orphans ' Home, near this city, an institution greatly 
needed, and to make an appropriation of twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars to the War Relief Fund of St. Louis, managed by a com- 
mittee, for the relief of soldiers ' families, widows and orphans, by 
aiding them with rations and fuel, and supplying such necessaries 
of life as their own exertions would not enable them to procure. 
The County Court has always acted with liberality towards both 
the War Relief Committee and this Commission, having made to 
each generous appropriations in the past, and the War Relief Com- 
mittee being engaged in a common work of benevolence to the 
soldiers and their families, and having excellent facilities for sup- 
plying an urgent want, (especially in the distribution of fuel,) 
which the Commission could not so conveniently do, through its 
own agency, this appropriation was considered to be wise and 
f)roper, in view of the exhausted resources of the Committee, and 
the great good yet to be accomplished by it. The amount devoted 
to this object has been wisely and well spent under the direction 
of T. B. Edgak, Esq., the excellent President of that Committee, 
and througli the labors of the Secretary, Mr. R. Brock, and the 
different agencies in the various Wards of the city, from whom, 
on the conclusion of their labors, full reports may be expected. 

After deliberate consideration of the great need of a Soldiers' 
Orphans ' Home, for the maintenance and education of the numerous 



45 

orphans of deceased soldiers, who have been left objects of 
charity, the Commission decided to establish such an institution, 
and purchased the building and grounds formerly known as Web- 
ster College, near the Webster Station, on the Pacific Railroad, in 
St. Louis county, ten miles west of the city, at a cost of twelve 
thousand and sixty-one dollars, consisting of a large stone edifice 
and twenty acres of land, admirably suited to this purpose. The 
sum of five thousand dollars was also appropriated towards the 
expenses of furnishing the institution, and providing its first sup- 
plies, and the property and the management of the Home were 
placed in the hands of a committee of the Ladies' "National 
League," of St. Louis, and an advisory committee of gentlemen, 
associated with them, with the ofter from the Commission that the 
whole should be conveyed to a Boai'd of Trustees, of their own 
selection, on condition of their liaising an endowment of fifty 
thousand dollars and assuming the responsibilities of the trust. A 
public meeting was held, soon after ; an organization was efiected, 
and the undei'taking commenced. A portion of the money was 
soon raised, and the State Legislature appropriated $5,000 a year, 
for ten yeai's, towards the support of the institution. Since this 
was done the Commission has expended an additional sum of 
twenty thousand dollars, in new buildings, so as to enlarge the 
accommodations of the Home for one hundred and fifty orphans, 
and has ofiered an appropriation of $10,000 additional funds, pro- 
vided the Trustees will complete the $50,000 endowment fund by 
the 22d of Februaiy, 1866, making a sum more than equal to the 
amount received from the gift of St. Louis county, in the Smizer 
Farm. 

On the 7th of January, 1865, the Legislature of Missoui'i passed an 
act incorporating the institution, by the title of ''The Soldiers' 
Orphans' Home, of St. Louis," and on the 31st of the same month 
made the yearly appropriation already mentioned. The following 



46 

corporators are uamed in the act as the Board of Trustees, and 
the following members of the Ladies' "National League," as a 
Board of Lady Managers : 

Board of Trustees — E. W. Fox, N. C. Chapman, A. S. W. 
Goodwin, D. B. Gale, Dwight Durkee, T. B. Edgar, John H. Fisse, 
Heniy Kennedy, M. L. Linton, John H. Lightner, S. H. Laflin, 
James Richardson, Henry S. Reed, Henry A. Homeyer, and their 
successors. 

Lady Managers — Mrs. Mary A. Ranlett, Mrs. Rebecca Webb, 
Mrs. Evelina C. Dickinson, Mrs. Mary E. Allen, Mrs. Clara C. 
Partridge, Mrs. Anna E. Filley, Mrs. Susanna Ware, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth W. Clarke, Mrs, Mary L. Woodruff, Mrs. Sophia C. Goodwin, 
Mrs. Catharine R. Springer, Mrs. Melinda J. How, Mrs. Henrietta 
E. Cunningham, Mrs. Sophronia Barth, Mrs. J. O. Pierce, Mi-s. 
Mary Gempp, Mrs, Charity Barnard, and Mrs. Sarah R, Avery. 

The Soldiers' Orphans' Home, thus provided for and organized, 
was opened in the winter of 1865, with sixty orphans, under the 
care of Mrs. S. A. Plummer as Matron, and Miss S. F. McCracken 
as Teacher. 

In the following spring it was dedicated, by appropriate cere- 
monies, consisting of prayer and addresses, by Rev. AY. G. Eliot, 
D. D., and Rev. H. A. Nelson, D. D., of St. Louis, on which 
occasion a large company of friends of the institution were present 
and partook of a collation in a grove near tlie buildings, and spent 
several hours in the Home, surveying its excellent arrangements, and 
looking with interest upon the children, whom the vicissitudes of 
war have bereft of one or both parents, and left to the care of this 
noble charity. 

Besides the supplies sent to the army of General Sherman, before 
it had passed beyond Atlanta, on its march through the South, the 
Commission was desirous of forwarding a generous supply of sanitary 
articles to our prisoners at Andersonville, in the prospect that their 



47 

delivery could be accomplished, either by the consent of the enemy 
or the capture of the place, and a letter was written by the Pi'esi- 
dent of the Commission to General Sherman proposing to send a 
shipment for this purpose, and offering the sum of live or ten 
thousand dollars additional, to be expended, as he might judge 
necessaiy, for the benefit of the thousands of Union soldiers, held 
there as prisoners of war, whose sufferings, under the inhuman 
treatment they received, had already become widely known, and 
had excited the sympathies and anxieties of the people of the North, 
and of their friends and kindred in the loyal States. 

To this proposition Mr. Yeatman received from General Sherman 
the following reply : 

"Headquarters, Military Division ov the Mississippi, 
" Atlakta, September 22, 1864. 
"James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

^^ President Western Sanitary Commission: 

"Dear Sir: Yours of the 14th inst. is received. * * * The 
condition of the prisoners at Andersonville has always been present 
to my mind, and could I have released them, I would have felt 
more real satisfaction than to have won another battle. Indeed, 
Stoneman's trip was partly for that purpose, and I fear failed, par- 
tially, because tlie General took a road East of Ocmulgee, instead 
of West, as I contemplated and ordered. I have frequent messages 
from them, and have sent word to the men to be of good cheer, that 
the day of their deliverance was approaching; but I now think that 
Jeff. Davis is removing them to Charleston, Savannah, and a point 
on the Macon and Savannah road, at Milieu, where a branch puts 
off for Augusta. My last escaped prisoner left Andersonville on 
the 12th inst., at which date many train loads had gone off east- 
ward, and this reduction of the number will improve the condition 
of the balance. 



48 

" I am now engaged in exchanging with General Hood two thou- 
sand of the pi'isoners, but this is confined to the last two thousand 
captured from ray army, who, of course, are not in as bad con- 
dition as those who have been longer confined. During the few 
days that must expire before all the papers are completed, I will 
have occasion to write to General Hood, and will offer to send 
down some fifty or sixty tons of clothing and other necessaries, 
but I doubt if he will consent. These Confederates are as proud 
as the Devil, and hate to confess their poverty ; but I know they 
are really unable to supply socks, drawers, undershirts, scissors, 
combs, soap, &c., which our men need, more than anything else, 
to preserve cleanliness and health. Should he assent, however, I 
will telegraph you to send me such articles as we do not have 
on hand, and will give credit to your Commission for all I obtain. 
This appears to me the best manner in which I can carry out your 
humane, patriotic, and most worthy object. 

" With sentiments of great respect, 
" Your friend, 

"W. T. SHERMAN, 
" Major General Commanding." 

At a later date, Mr. Ykatman received a telegram from General 
Sherman, requesting a shipment for the Andersonville prisoners to 
be made. His i-equest was immediately complied with, and a large 
supply of the articles mentioned in his letter, witli many additional 
ones, suited to the wants of men in their condition, was packed in 
boxes, which were marked: ''Major General W. T. Sherman, for the 
Andersonville Prisoners." 

This shipment arrived safely at the front, but the exigences of the 
campaign were such that it became impossible for General Sherman 
to carry out his benevolent intention, and the boxes were returned 
to the Commission at St. Louis. The next spring, however, as the 
war drew to its close, the prisoners at Andersonville were released, 



49 

and arrived in a body at Vicksburg, on their way to the North, to 
be discharged, and return to the bosom of their families. 

The Commission, learning of their arrival at Vicksburg, immedi- 
ately forwarded the same boxes of supplies, with the original marks 
upon them, to its agent at that place, where the distribution was 
made to them, and as their necessities wei'e still very great, a real 
good was done to these poor men, who had suffered so long from 
rebel inhumanity and outi*age. 

In a letter of Mr. Ykatman, the President of the Commission, to 
Major General W. T. Sherman, dated May 15, 1865, he relates to 
him the reception of these gifts by the liberated prisoners, and their 
joy at this evidence of the General's remembi'ance of them, in their 
period of confinement and suffering ; for the boxes were addressed 
to his care, and, as they had learned, at his request. In this letter 
Mr. Yeatman thus describes the scene of their reception : 

" I knoAV that it will afford you pleasure, even in the midst of 
your triumphal entry into our capitol, to learn that the goods which 
we sent to you, for the prisoners at Andersonville, had at last reached 
them. They were returned to the Commission from Chattanooga, 
and on learning that the Andersonville prisoners were all being sent 
to Vicksburg for exchange, the goods were at once forwarded to our 
agent at that place, and freely distributed among them. When they 
saw the boxes, marked 'Maj. Gen'l W. T. Sherman, for Prisoners at 
Andersonville,' the men shed tears of gratitude, and expressed their 
joy that their old General, 'Old Billy,' as they termed you, had not 
forgotten them." 

This letter was received by General Sherman after the completion 
of his great campaign, and elicited from him the following noble 
reply : 



50 

"Headquarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, 
"In the Field, May 21, 1865. 

" Camp near Alexandria, Va. 
" James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

" My Dear Friend : On my arrival here from Richmond, by 
land, I found, among many letters, your valued favor of May 15, 
and was glad, as you could have been, to learn that those boxes 
of stores i^repared by you, with such promptness, for the Ander- 
sonville prisoners, i-eached them at last. I don't think I ever set 
my heart so strongly on any one thing as I did in attempting to 
rescue those prisoners, and I had almost feared that, instead of 
doing them good, I had actually done harm; for they were changed 
from place to place to avoid me, and I could not, with Infantry, 
overtake raih-oads ; but at Inst their prison doors are open, and I 
do think and hope that things have reached a point when further 
war, or battle, or severity, other than the punishment of crime by 
the civil tribunals, is past. 

"I confess, without shame, that I am tired and sick of the war. 
Its glory is all moonshine. Even success, the most brilliant, is 
over dead and mangled bodies, the anguish and lamentations of 
distant families, appealing to me for missing sons, husbands and 
fathers. You, too, have seen these things, and i know you also 
are tired of war, and are willing to let the civil tribunals resume 
their place ; and, as far as I know, all the fighting men of our 
army want peace. It is only those who have not heard a shot, 
nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded and lacerated, 
(friend or foe) that cry aloud for more blood, more vengeance, 
more desolation ; and so help me God, as a man and a soldier, 1 
will not strike a foe, who stands unarmed and submissive before 
me, but will say : ' Go, and sin no more.' 



51 

" I thank j^ou always for your cordial friendship, which is truly 

reciprocated. 

"W. T. SHERMAN, 

" Major General." 

During the period, from May 1st to December 1st, 1864, the fol- 
lowing- disti-ibutions of sanitary articles were made to the hospitals 
at Memphis, Vicksburg, Helena, Duvall's Blutf, Little Eock and 
St. Louis : 

200,640 cans assorted fruits and tomatoes. 
21,280 cans condensed milk and sugar of lemons. 
17,350 cans oysters, chickens, and other meats and soups. 
158,502 bottles blackberr}' cordial, wines, ale and other stimulants. 

7,934 bottles essences and flavoring extracts. 
16,197 bottles fruits, sauces and jellies. 
17,793 gallons pickles. 
48,623 pounds crackex's. 
40,670 gallons sauer kraute. 
101,993 pounds assorted dried fruit. 
16,919 pounds extract of beef and dried beef. 
19,866 pounds codfish and mackerel. 
11,435 ])Ounds butter, cheese and lard. 
36,600 pounds ice. 
18,559 pounds farina, corn starch and arrowroot, &c. 

7,950 pounds toast or zwiebeck. 

2,735 pounds spices. 

7,234 pounds sugar, tea, cocoa, broma, &c. 
11,492 bushels potatoes. 

4,775 bushels onions. 
14,554 dozens eggs. 
13,397 shirts and drawers. 
11,530 j)airs of socks. 

7,433 pairs of shoes and slippers. 

ARTICLES OF CLOTHING. 

13,182 yards of material dress goods, domestics, &c., for freed- 

men and refugees. 
21,348 dozens buttons, thread, papers of needles. 
8,502 combs. 

12,132 towels and handkerchiefs. 
17,850 bed sacks, sheets and pillows. 
14,577 blankets and comforts. 



52 

14,055 articles for hospitals and soldiers' homes. 
5,435 bandages, rags and lint. 
3(i,034 quires of stationery, paper and envelopes. 
13,135 reading- matter and books of instruction. 
30,611 miscellaneous articles. 

TO DESTITUTE SOLDIERS' FAMILIES. 

20,340 pounds bacon sides. 
16,580 pounds fresh beef. 
858 cords wood. 
203,742 pounds flour. 

During the autumn of 1864, the rebel General Sterling Price 
made his last great raid into Missouri, capturing" Pilot Knob after 
a brave resistance by Brigadier General Tiiojias Eaving, Jr., and 
marching with his rebel hoi'de, at first towards St. Louis, then 
through the interior of the State, occupying Franklin for a few 
days, and threatening Rolla, Jeiferson City, and other important 
places, destroying bridges, and robbing the inhabitants of food and 
clothing, till they reached the very borders of Kansas, where, after 
a severe battle, they were driven southward from the State. During 
this invasion, there was great activity on the part of the Union 
forces. Besides the volunteer troops in the regular service, the 
State militia was called out, and every military post, and every 
important city, was immediately i)laced in a state of defence. A 
lai-ge portion of the volunteer forces, belonging to the army, was 
brought hurriedly up the river from below, and the suddenness of 
military movements subjected the men to many deprivations, and 
gave them no time to draw their winter clothing from the Quar- 
termasters, at the very time when cold weather was approaching. 
Passing hurriedly through St. Louis, the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission rooms were daily thronged with soldiers, destitute of 
comfortable clothing, generally without overcoats or blankets, often 
with worn-out shoes, thin blouses, and no underclothing, bringing 
written requests from tlieir company or regimental commanders to 



53 

the Commission, stating some obstacle to their being supplied from 
the Government Quartermasters, and asking that clothing might be 
given them by the Commission. It was an urgent necessity, and 
was met with all possible promptitude and dispatch. Supplies of 
shoes, socks, blankets, coats and overcoats, were purchased, and 
delivered at the Commission rooms to all who needed, for several 
months, during which thousands of undershirts, drawers, socks, 
shoes, coats and blankets, were given to our brave troops, who, 
without the readiness and preparation of the Commission to help 
them, would have suffered extremely, and have become subjects for 
the treatment of the hospitals instead of aiding in the expulsion 
of the horde of invaders Avho were devastating the interior portions 
of the State. 

At the same time, there was a large demand from the various 
post hospitals and regimental surgeons, in Missouri, Arkansas, Kan 
sas and the Territories, for sanitary goods, hospital clothing, stimu- 
lants, delicate preparations of food for the sick, vegetables, pickles, 
sauer kraute, dried fruits, &c., &c , and the demand was answered 
by large shipments to Jefferson City, Warrensburg, Independence, 
Pleasant Hill, Glasgow, Rolla, Franklin, Kansas City, Little Rock, 
Pine Bluff, Duvall's Bluff, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Fort Riley, Leav- 
enworth, Fort Scott, Fort Zarah, Fort Halleck, Julesburg, Fort 
Ijaramie, Fort Larned, Cottonwood Crossing, Omaha, and wherever 
regiments of troops were stationed, during the fall of 1804 and the 
winter of 18G5. 

Another consequence of the invasion of Missouri, by the rebel forces 
under General Price, was a great increase of the number of desti- 
tute Union refugees, who came from all parts of the State to St, 
Louis, as the only place where they could procure shelter and food, 
and some addition to their scant\^ clothing. They often arrived in 
families, consisting of from four to eight or more, ill-clad, partially 
diseased children, Avith a sick mother, having no husband, or both 



54 

parents being in poor health, without means to pay for a night's lodg- 
ing, or a meal of victuals. The army of Price, in passing through 
their neighborhood, had taken the little crop of corn they had 
raised, their pigs and poultry, and even the bed clothing from 
tlieir beds, and there was no resource for them but to get to St. 
Louis, where they hoped to subsist for awhile, on the charity of 
the Government. Thousands of them came in this way, not only 
from the remote counties of Missouri, but from Arkansas, Ten- 
nessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, boat loads of them 
being forwarded from time to time by our military commanders, 
from Fort Smith, Little Eock, Vicksburg, and other military posts, 
to get I'id of subsisting them on Government rations and provi- 
ding them with shelter, finding them also an incumbrance, and a 
cause of demoralization to the army. 

At St. Louis, the Secretary of the Commission, Rev. J. G. FoR- 
MAN, holding also a commission as a Chaplain, was assigned to the 
work of superintending and caring for these refugees, the military 
authorities relying largely upon the Commission to sustain and aid 
him in this work, authorizing the drawing of a charity ration, and 
providing a building for shelter, but leaving all other expenses — 
the furnishing of it, providing a matron and teachers for the children, 
and subordinate workers, hospital treatment, and all other deficien- 
cies — to the Sanitary Commission. 

The first application of these refugees was uniformly at the rooms 
of the Commission, where one room had to be Avholly set apart 
for their reception, which was crowded with new arrivals, from day 
to day, and where often it was necessary to furnish them with 
additions to their clothing, to prevent extreme sufiering, and enable 
them to encounter the cold. For awhile it was necessary to trans- 
port them in wagons, (on one day fifteen government wagons 
were necessary,) from St. Louis to Benton Barracks, for shelter; 
but in the winter of 1865, the Lawson hospital building, in the 



55 

city, was pi'ouured as u temporary Iiome lor them, and retained 
ill tliis use till tlie next July. 

All this work for refugees, and an equal work for destitute 
freedmen, and the helpless wives and children of colored soldiers, 
devolved great labor and expense ujoon the Commission, rendering- 
the fall and winter of 1864-5 almost as busy a period, to its Presi- 
dent and its members as some of those in which the great battles 
of the war had been fought, in the earlier campaigns in Missouri, 
Kentuck)^ and Tennessee. Besides this work for refugees and 
freedmen at St. Louis, feeling itself called to assist the Govern- 
ment in all the humanities of the war, and a portion of its 
I'esources having been contributed for this purpose, it made large 
shipments of clothing, medicines and sanitary articles for the des- 
titute, to Springfield, Mo., Pilot Knob, Kolla, Leavenworth and 
Fort Scott, Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, Helena, Fayette- 
ville. Little Rock, Vicksburg and Natchez ; and provided teach- 
ers, schools, hospitals, surgeons, nurses, and temporary homes 
for them and their children, in several of these places ; supplement- 
ing whatever was necessary to the aid furnished by the Govern- 
ment, and paying the salaries of teachers, nurses, matrons and 
agents of distribution, and in some instances of surgeons employed 
by contract ; co-ojjerating with the freedmen's relief associations, 
and aiding the chaplains of the army, wherever they were assigned 
to the same work. Besides the labors of the Secretary at St. 
Louis, in the personal superintendence of the refugees and freed- 
men's homes, and the dispensation of the charity of the Commis- 
sion and of the Government, the President, Mr. Yeatman, visited 
the whole field of operations, in tlie Mississippi Valley, once in 
August, 1864, and again in the spring of 1865, going as far as 
Little Rock, Vicksburg, and Nashville, Tenn., to look after the 
agencies of the Commission, in the distribution of sanitary supplies 
to the army, the management of the soldiers' homes, the refugee 



56 

homes, the schools for the children of refugees aud freedmeu, the 
military and the freedmeu's hospitals ; and to ascertain how far the 
necessity existed for a continuance of this work in the future, and 
at what points supplies were most needed. On his return from 
both these visits, further shipments were made to Memphis, Helena, 
Duvall's Bluff, Little Rock, Vicksburg- and Natchez, and arrange- 
ments made, on the last visit, for the closing of these agencies, and 
of the soldiers' homes, and those for refugees, in view of the end 
of the war, then rendei'ed certain by the taking of Richmond and 
the surrender of the rebel armies under Lee and Johnson. The 
statistics and particulars of the work for the refugees and freed- 
meu will be given in a separate chapter, and also the accounts of 
receipts, expenditures and distributions by the Commission, from 
the holding of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair (the date of 
its previous report) to the close of its labors with the year 1865. 

During the fall and winter of 1864-5, the troubles with the 
Indians along the overland route to California, and in the new 
territories, broke out afresh, and many additional regiments of troops 
were sent in that direction, constituting a large force on the plains, 
which were but poorly supplied by the commissary department with 
vegetable food, because it could not be purchased so far beyond 
the reach of supply, and where the surgeons could not procure 
many needed articles for the sick, not furnished by the Govern- 
ment, or of which the supplies to the medical department were 
insufficient. In consequence of these deficiencies, large and urgent 
demands were made upon the Commission from all the military 
posts on the frontier, and westward as far as Colorado and Idaho. 

The following letter of Mr. Yeatman to Assistant Surgeon, J. 
T. Wisely, at Julesburg, C. T., accompanying a consignment o 
sanitary stores, with a list of the articles forwarded, will indicate 
the nature of the demand at all the«e military posts on the plains. 



57 

and in the distaut territories, and the kind of supplies furnished 
to them by the Commission: 

"Rooms Western Sanitary Commission, 
"St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 9, 1864. 

"J. T. Wisely, A. A. S. U. S. A., 

"JULESBURG, C. T., 

" Dear Sir : Your favor of the 26th inst. is received, and I 
take pleasure in complj'ing with your request, and have ordered 
sanitary supplies packed and shipped, as you direct. I trust they 
will not be delayed in reaching you. . Annexed you will find a 
list of the articles sent. 

" Very respectfully, your ob't scrv't, 

*' JAMES E. YEATMAN, 

" President." 

10 kegs cabbage in currie, 

5 barrels cabbage and cucumber pickles, 

5 barrels sauer kraute, 
10 dozens cans chickens, 

5 boxes essence of beef, 
24 dozens tomatoes, 

20 dozens canned milk, 
12 dozens canned peaches, 
10 dozens canned blackberries, 
10 dozens canned raspberries, 
10 dozens cranberry sauce, 

6 dozens portable lemonade, 
6 dozens ginger wine, 

6 dozens elderberry wine, 
4 dozens blackberry jam, 

4 dozens raspberry jam, 

6 dozens blackberry cordial, 

5 barrels soda crackers, 

2 barrels zwiebeck or toasted bread, 

5 jars citric acid, 
100 hospital shirts, 
100 cotton flannel drawers, 

4 dozens red flannel shirts. 



58 

4 clozeus kuit woolen shirts, 
100 pairs socks, 
100 towels, 

2 libraries, 
20 packages reading matter. 

The difficulties of transportation were a serious obstacle in for- 
warding these goods, but they generally reached their destination, 
being sent to the Medical Director, Surgeon J. II. Peabody, at 
Omaha, N. T., by whom they were forwarded. The following 
letter from Assistant Surgeon J. T. Wisely, at Julesburg, Colo- 
rado Territory, will show something of the necessities of the service 
in that region, and the reception of most of the foregoing con- 
signment : 

" Julesburg, C. T., June 13, 1865. 
" James E. Yeatmax, Esq., 

" Preside?it Western Sanitanj Commission : 

" SiK : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
letter of the 2d inst., and will, on behalf of the suflering soldiers, 
thank you and your associates for your prompt attention to them. 
I herewith transmit a receipt for the greater portion of your ship- 
ment of November last. [A portion of it failed to get through, 
and caused much disappointment.] I think I ought, in justice to 
the troops, to state that my appeal to you was based on a careful 
estimate of the state of the country and the wants of the fifteen 
thousand troops now on these sandy plains, or on the way. Of 
the one hundred gallons of pickles you kindly sent my poor scurvy 
men, not one was received. Of one hundred towels, not one came. 
[ Greater care Avas afterwards taken against such losses.] 
" Very respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

"J. T. WISELY, 

"A. A. Swgeon." 



59 

This letter was written previous to the receipt of another ship- 
ment of stores, sent early in June, I860, to the Medical Director, 
at Julesburg, Surgeon Hogeboom. The following letter of Mr. 
Yeatman accompanied this shipment : 

"KooMS Western Sanitary Commission, 
"St. Louis, June 2, 1865. 
" Surgeon G. W. Hogeboom, 

" Medical Director, Disti'ict of the Plains, 

"Julesburg, C. T., . 
" Dear Sir : I have directed a good supplv of sanitary stores 
to be sent to you to-day, consisting of thirty barrels of kraute, 
ten barrels of pickles, fifty dozens cans tomatoes, canned milk, 
oysters, turkey, chicken soup, blackberry brandy, &c., &c., which 
are intended for the men under your care, either in hospitals or 
regiments, where they will do the most good, which I leave to 
your judgment. I have written to Dr. Wisely to take charge of 
these things, in case of your absence. 

" Very truly, yours, 

"JAI^IES E. YEATMAN." 
The Medical Director, Surgeon Hogeboom, had removed his head- 
quarters one hundred and eighty miles further west, to Fort Laramie, 
and these supplies were received by Surgeon Wisely, and used at 
Julesburg. 

The following communication, from Assistant Surgeon Jeremiah 
LuBiN, in charge of the post hospital at Fort Zarah, Kansas, indi- 
cates the necessities of another post, as late as the month of Au- 
gust, 1865 : 

" Hospital, Fort Zarah, Kansas, August 17, 1865. 
" James E. Y^eatman, Esq., 

'^President Western Sanitary Commission: 
"Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a requisition for 
eanitaiy supplies for this post. The number of persons entitled 



f,0 

to medical care the last six mouths, has varied from 300 to 1500. 
Scurvy is the most formidable and prevalent disease we liave to 
combat here. It modifies or iuteusifies all other diseases, and 
wounds even, as is demonstrated almost daily. As the "materia 
medica" fails in furnishing adequate I'eniedies to cure or prevent 
this loathsome malady, I have entertained the opinion that the 
Western Sanitary Commission would furnish as much or more of 
the articles necessarj^ to meet the indications in the prevention and 
cure of it, than can be obtained through any other channel. Trust- 
ing that this application will be favorably responded to, 
" I am, most respectfully, 

'* Your ob't sei'vant, 

" JEREMIAH LUBIN. 
".-1. A. S., U. S. A., in chanje:' 

A good supply of vegetables, pickles, tomatoes, (anti-scorbutics) 
was immediately forwarded to this post. 

These applications are but samples of otliers from all the distant 
military posts, and from regimental surgeons throughout the divis- 
ion west of the Mississippi river, under the command of Major 
General Pope. In this division the Western Sanitary Commission 
was unaided by any other Commission, and was the only source 
of sanitary supplies. Its labors were extended beyond tlie close of 
the war, because of the large number of troops required on the 
western frontier and in the territories, as far as the Rocky Moun- 
tains, to subdue the outbreaks of the Indians, and to protect the 
border settlements and the overland travel and mails to the Pacific 
coast. 

Soon after the grand army of General Sherman cut loose from 
its base, and went on its great march through the Southern Con- 
federacy, the Commission being unable longer to follow, gradually 
withdrew its agencies from Atlanta, Chattanooga, Huntsville and 



61 

Nashville, leaving" the field to the United States Sanitaiy Commis- 
sion, and directing its labors, more entirely than before, to the 
necessities of the army west of the Mississippi river. It continued 
to sustain its soldiers' homes at Vicksburg, Memphis, and Colum- 
bus, Ky., uutil the war of the rebellion was ended, in the 
spring of 1865, and to supply the hospitals of several of the mili- 
tary posts, on the east side of the Mississippi river, with sanitary 
stores, and to aid in the work for the freedmen and refugees, and 
the supply of the freedmen's hospitals, through the summer of 1865 ; 
but its chief labors, during this last year of its active work, were 
expended in the Military Division of the Mississippi, from the 
Missouri river to the Arkansas, and from the Mississippi to the 
Rocky Mountains. 

In the distribution of sanitary supplies to the army, the Commis- 
sion has, from the first enlistment of colored soldiers, taken pains 
to meet their wants, and has many acknowledgments from their 
commanders. The following, from the Surgeon of the 113th U. S. 
Colored Infantry, stationed at Duvall's Blufl', Arkansas, was received 
in August, 1865, and will evince something of the care taken by 
the Commission that this class of our troops, who have on so many 
fields proved their strength and valor, should not be neglected: 

"Headquarters 113th U. S. Colored Infantry, 
"Duvall's Bluff, Akk., August 3, 1865. 
"James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

"President Western Sanitary Commission: 

"Dear Sir: I herewith enclose a receipt for sanitary supplies, 
just received from you. These supplies, though unexpected, were 
indeed very acceptable, and, in the name of the regiment, I 
heartily thank you for them. We shair never forget the assistance 
received from the Western Sanitary Commission, during the last 
spring and early summer, while this regiment was suflering exten- 
sively IVoin scurvy. Your late agent at Little Rock, Dr. Wyeth, 



62 

sapi^lied us liberally with vegetables aud other stores, which were 
all important in restoring our men to health. AVith sentiments 
of gratitude, 

" I am, veiy respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"^Y. H. HIPOLITE, 
" Surgeon 113th U. S. Colored Infantry." 

The labors of the President of the Commission also extended to 
the supplying of the military hospitals of the West with competent 
female nurses. As the agent of Miss Dokothea L. Dix, to whom 
the selection aud appointment of this class of nurses was originally 
confided by the Government, Mr, Yeatman performed this duty for 
the Western Department, from the beginning of the wai*. All 
applications for these situations had to be addressed to him, and 
the commissions to be made out by him, and approved by the 
Medical Directors. When assigned to duty in the general hospitals, 
tliese nurses received forty cents per day, and a ration and quar- 
ters, from the Government. Such as were assigned to duty in 
post hospitals, and the hospitals for freedmen and refugees, being 
unauthorized by the Government, had to be paid bj' the Sanitary 
Commission. The work of receiving and answering applications, 
selecting suitable persons, and commissioning and assigning them 
to the hospitals, was ai'duous and difficult, and occasioned a large 
correspondence. This difficult trust was performed with great con- 
scientiousness and care, and many noble and devoted women were 
introduced to a work of the highest usefulness by it, and rendered 
the most important services to the sick and wounded soldiers. 
Among the true heroines of the war was the army of faithful 
nurses, who went through the exposiires and deprivations of hos- 
pital life to raise up, by gentle nursing, the sick and disabled sol- 
dier, and send him forth again to do battle for his country and 
her righteous cause. Of the nurses who remained on duty through 



6:> 

the last year of the war, whose names are mentioned in a previ- 
ous report, were Miss Carrie C. McNair, Miss Hattie Wiswell, 
Miss N. A. Shepard, Miss Cornelia M. Tompkins, Miss C. A. 
Harwood, Miss Eebecca M. Craighead, Mrs. S. A. Plummer, 
Miss Ida Johnson, Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, Mrs. Dorothea Ogden, 
Miss Louisa Maertz, Mss Harriet N". Phillips, Mrs. A. Reese, 
Mrs. Maria Brooks, Mrs. Mary Otis, Miss Harriet Peabody, 
Mrs. M. A. Wells, Miss Lucy I. Bissell, Mrs. Florence P. 
Sterling, JVIiss N. L. Ostram, Mrs. Anne AVard, Miss Isabella M. 
Hartshorn, Mrs. Mary Ellis, Mrs. L. E. Lathrop, Mrs. A. 
Tannehill, IVIiss Louisa Otis, Mrs. Lydia Leach, Mrs. Mary 
Andrews, Mrs. Mary Ludlow, Miss Phoebe Allen, Mrs. Han- 
nah A. Haines, Mrs. Allen, names that will be long remem- 
bered with honor and affection. 

As a result of his best observation and reflection upon the services 
of woman in this important work, her capacity for it, and the 
advantages of a Protestant sisterhood of educated nurses, in afford- 
ing employment, an honored vocation and an aim in life to many 
noble women, who ai'e now destitute of such a sphere of useful- 
ness, Mr. Yeatman has conceived the plan of establishing a hospital 
for invalids in some of our large cities, that shall be placed in 
charge of such a sisterhood, which shall become a school for the 
education of women nurses, and at the same time an institution 
of charity for indigent invalids, as well as a place of cure for 
those able to pay for its advantages, the sisterhood to be bound 
together by suitable vows, and to be sustained and supported, in 
their devotion to tliis work, by the Protestant churches of the land. 
This idea is certainly worthy the earnest consideration of Christian 
philanthropists, and if carried into effect, would enable the Protest- 
ant churches of Christendom to unite in the endowment of charitable 
institutions in the hands of such a sisterhood that would equal 
at least those founded by the Roman Catholic Churcli, and give 



64 

to the world " Sisters of Charity," animated by the Protestant 
Chi'istian faith. 

Besides the resources of the Commission, derived from the Missis- 
sippi Valley Sanitary Fair, contributions of sanitary stores for the 
soldiers, and of clothing and money for the freedmen and refugees, 
continued to be received from many communities and individuals, 
who remained thoroughly interested in its work till the end. The 
Soldiers ' Aid Society, of Peoria, Illinois, of which Miss Mary E. 
Bartlett was Secretary, was always liberal, and constant in its 
co-operation, sending large and valuable donations, both in money 
and in sanitary supplies, through the four years of the war, and 
never remitting its exertions as long as there was anything to do. 
The Commission has always had warm and generous friends also in 
New York, Boston, Cambridge, Salem, New Bedfox'd, Mass., and Poi-ts- 
mouth, N. H., from Avhom it has been constantly receiving liberal 
donations in money and supplies for the soldiers, and for freed- 
men and refugees, up to the close of its labors. Its members will 
have occasion long to remember the interest, friendship and liber- 
ality of such persons as J. A. Roosevelt, of New York, James 
M. Barnard, M. S. Scudder, A. C. Greenleaf, Edward Atkin- 
son, Wm. Endicott, and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lamh, of Boston, 
John H. Nichols, of Salem, Miss Mary E. Howe, of Cambridge, 
and many others, whose names are less familiar to the writer, but 
who have been equally earnest and devoted to the work of this 
Commission, in the "West. Among all the States of the Union, 
which have given with a willing and generous hand, to both the 
United States and the Western Sanitary Commissions, none have 
surpassed Massachusetts ; and, though operating in a wholly western 
field, this Commission is free to acknowledge that its lai-gest and 
most munificent conti'ibutions came from the old Bay State. 

In the Western States, contributions continued to flow to the Com- 
mission from many towns in Iowa and Illinois, and the labors of the 



66 

soldier's aid societies, in tliese places, performed by the iiands of 
the noble women of the West — whose husbands, and sons, and broth- 
ers, have shared in the toils, the sacrifices, and the victories of the 
western division of the great army of the Union — will be gratefully 
I'emembered. Among the communities who have thus aided the 
Commission, through the last year of its labors, some of them, not 
mentioned in its previous reports, are: Glenwood, Columbus, Bed- 
ford, Blue Grass and Mount Pleasant, Iowa; Griggsville, Olney, 
Carlisle, 'Orleans, Evanston, Peoria, Jacksonville, Omphgent, Ship- 
man and Tremont, Illinois ; Louisiana, Mo., and St, Paul, Minn. 

In this great work of sustaining our noble army of citizen soldiers, 
engaged in an arduous struggle for the integrity of the nation, and 
for the maintenance of a most righteous cause, the East and the West 
have joined hands, and the noblest endeavors of a great nation have 
been blessed with the fruition of the highest hopes, and the estab- 
lishment of peace and liberty, on the sure foundations of eternal right. 



CHAPTER III 



Soldiers' Homes a>'d Age>x'Ies— The Home ix St. Louis— At Memphis, Tennessee 
—At Columbus, Ky.— Home and Agency at Vicksbubg, Mississippi— Home and 
Agencies at Helena, Arkansas— Home and Agency' at Duvall's Bluff, Arkan- 
sas—Agency AT Little Rock— Statistics of the Soldiers' Homes consolidated. 



Among the most useful aud beneficent labors of the "Western Sani- 
tary Commission, has been the establishment and support of soldiers' 
homes at St. Louis, Columbus, Iw., Memphis, Helena, Vicksburg, 
and Duvall's Blufi", Arkansas; affording hospitable entertainment and 
comfortable fare to thousands of our brave men, wrho, in passing- to 
their homes on furlough, aud returning to their regiments, or leaving 
the army on their final discharge, have thus been saved from large 
hotel expenses, from extortion and imposition, and often from 
exposure and suflering, through inability to procure a iilace of 
rest and a temporary home. Considering the small pay of the 
private soldier, the long periods that he has often been obliged to 
wait for it, and the claims of his wife and children at home ; 
remembering the sick and disabled condition in which he has 
often returned to them, on furlough, for a few weeks of rest and 
recuperation, and how many have obtained their discharge to go 
to their homes, thousands of miles from the seat of war, to die 
or remain disabled for life, this free hospitality of our Soldiers' 
Homes has been one of the greatest benefits conferred on them, 
and fully justifies all the outlay of sustaining these institutions. 
Here, too, has been a sure and practical way in which the con- 
tributions of the soldiers' aid societies and of the friends of our 
cause, through the Sanitary Commission, have certainly reached 



67 

and accomplished their object. These homes for the soldier have 
been materially aided by the Government furnishing a ration and 
fuel for all enlisted men entertained at them, leaving the Com- 
mission to make all other necessary provisions, of furniture, bedding 
and extra diet, employing a Superintendent, Matron, Cooks, &c., 
supplying all deficiencies and meeting all extra expenses. They have 
also been provided, by the Commission, with reading rooms and 
reading matter, and religious services have been conducted, either 
by the Supei'intendent, or such Chaplains as have happened occa- 
sionally to be visiting them. 

The Soldiers ' Home, at St. Louis, was the first established, and 
its early history and statistics, as far as March 12th, 1864, are 
given in the history of the Commission, published in the spring 
of that year, page 35. 

The whole number of soldiers entertained at this home, from its 
establishment, March 13th, 1862, to December 31st, 1865, has been 
seventy-one thousand and seventy-seven (71,077). The whole num- 
ber of meals furnished, three hundred thousand nine hundred and 
seventy-two (300,972), and the whole number of lodgings, eighty- 
five thousand and fifteen (85,015). 

The soldiers who were thus entertained were from the following 
States: From Missoui'i, 28,107; from Illinois, 13,683; from Iowa, 
7,786; from Wisconsin, 4,487; from Indiana, 2,271; from Michigan, 
1,169; from Minnesota, 1,878; from Kansas, 1,922; from Ohio, 
1,814; from New York, 1,392; from the United States Kegulars, 
1,566; from the Invalid Corps, 1,589; from Kentucky, 228; from 
Arkansas, 451 ; from Nebraska, 687 ; from Pennsylvania, 163 ; from 
Massachusetts, 101 ; from Virginia, 41 ; from Marine Brigade, 278 ; 
from U. S. colored troops, 238; from other States, 1,421. 

In the summer of 1864, the above Home Avas removed from 29 
Fourth street to the building formerly known as the Pacific Hotel, 
on Spruce street, between Seventh and Eighth streets, where its 



68 

accommodations were much increased, and the number of guests 
entertained from that period was nearly doubled, on account of the 
greater number of soldiers passing and repassing through the city, 
separate from their commands, some on furlough, and many seek- 
ing their i-egimeuts, which had been transferred to Missouri in 
consequence of Price's invasion, or to the plains to suppress the 
troubles with the Indians. 

On the 4th of October, ISGi, llcv. Charles Peabody, who had 
superintended and conducted the St. Louis Soldier's Home from the 
beginning, with great efficiency and excellent management, having 
resigned his position, Avas succeeded by Rev. Wm. Bradley, who, 
being in the military service as a Chaplain, was, by request of the 
Commission, assigned to this dutj'^ by an order of Brigadier Gen- 
eral EwiNG, commanding the district. Mr. Bradley had, previous 
to his chaplaincy, been engaged in the work of the Commission. 
Mrs, Bradley also became matron of the Home, and the good 
management and well ordered character of the institution, under 
Rev. Mr. Peabody, were fully maintained under the new Superin- 
tendent, who has continued to conduct it till the i^resent time, 
being continued by the Commission since the expiration of his chap- 
laincy in August last. Both in Mr. and Mrs. Bradley the Commis- 
sion has found most faithful and excellent friends and helpers of the 
soldiers. The cast-off clothing left at the Home by many of the 
soldiers, Mrs. B. has made useful to othei's, by having it renovated 
and mended, and distributing it to such as were in destitution and 
want. Supplies of clothing for tlie destitute have also been fur- 
nished by the Commission and the Ladies' Union Aid Society, and 
have been distributed with the best of judgment at the Home. 

Besides the entertainment of soldiers still remaining in the military 
service, the Commission has, for the last six months, directed that 
accommodations should be given to such discharged soldiers as might 
be disabled, sick, helpless, and indigent, and might apply for admis- 
sion, having no home, or friends, or means of support. Since the 



69 

1st of May, 1865, there has beeu an average of from forty to tifty of 
this class provided for at the Home; among them meu crippled for 
life, some of them blind, others suffering from incurable disease, or 
with constitutions utterly broken down by the hardships of the 
service. In the Soldiers' Home they have received medical atten- 
tion, and the kind care and treatment of Mr. and Mrs. Bradley; 
and have beeu clothed and assisted, as their condition required. 
No rations are drawn for them from the Government. 

The Commission has made repeated efforts to induce the Govern- 
ment to appropriate Jefferson Barracks, with its extensive buildings 
and grounds, to a permanent home for discharged, disabled and 
invalid soldiers having no means of support, and has offered to 
undertake the supervision and management of such an institution; 
but as yet nothing has been done. The war being ended, and 
Jefferson Barracks not really needed as a general hospital, its situa- 
tion, (twelve miles below St. Louis, on the banks of the Mississippi,) 
and its buildings and grounds admirably suiting it to the purpose, 
there would seem to be no better use to which it could be devoted 
than this, which is called for by every consideration of gratitude to 
the worn-out soldier, and of patriotism and humanity. 

The Government having thus far made no provision for this class 
of disabled soldiei-s, who have sacrificed all that makes life dear for 
their country, except the small pension it gives to such as can make 
out the necessary proofs required for tliis benefit, which thousands, 
by the carelessness of surgeons and company commanders in making- 
out their discharge, will never be able to do, the Commission has 
felt it a duty to supply the deficiency, .as far as it could, to those 
who might come to the St. Louis Soldiers' Home, the most perma- 
nent of these institutions, and most immediately under its care ; 
and though not allowed to draw even a Government ration for them, 
to see that they were not left to suffer and die in the streets of a 



70 

city, originally saved to the Union, and from pillage and desecration, 
by their heroism and self-sacrifice. 

Besides this charitj^ to the war-worn and disabled indigent sol- 
dier, the Soldiers' Home has been a great benefit in cases of death 
occurring to the soldier on his way home, the Superintendent 
attending to his wants in his last sickness, ministering advice and 
consolation, providing for the burial, preserving the record of it, 
corresponding with his family, keeping his efiects till they could be 
sent to them, and performing every needed oflice of kindness. 

The following extract, from a letter received by the Superintend- 
ent, will be read with interest by all who can sympathize with the 
sad bereavements occasioned by the war, and it will also serve as a 
testimonial of the good that has been accomplished by our Soldiers' 
Homes. It relates to the case of a sick soldier, who died in the 
Home at St. Louis : 

" My husband's death has been a sad blow to mo. God only 
knows the agony of my heart. He was a good husband and 
father, and always kind and aflectionate in his family. I thank 
God that he was prepared to die. I wish you to keep the $50, 
and have grave-stones placed at his grave, for if I live I shall 
certainly Adsit the spot. His watch and other things, please send 

to me, in , Pennsylvania. I cannot express my thanks to 

you for your kindness to me and my husband. God will reward 
yon. If there were more men like you in this world, we would 
l>e much happier. Please write me about the last hours of mj'- 
dear departed hiisband. Did he say much about me ? What were 
his last words, while in his right mind ? Did he sufier much in 
dying ? Give my love to those who took care of Edwin in his 
last illness, including yourself and wife, and believe me, ever, 
" Your grateful friend, 

" JANETTE BUELL." 



71 

The grave stones were procured by Mr. Bradley, and placed at 
the grave, in the soldier's cemetery, near Jefferson Barracks. 

Many other letters from soldiers and their wives, testifying of 
their gratitude for the benefits of the Home, and for services ren- 
dered in cases of sutlering, might be given, but would occupy 
more space than can be allotted for this purpose. Religious ser- 
vices, of an unsectarian character, are regularly maintained by Mr. 
Bradley, and much interest in them has been manifested by the 
soldiers. 

The following repoi-t of the Soldiers' Home at Memphis, Tenn., 
was prepared by Mr. O. E. Waters, the excellent Superintendent, 
and forwarded to the Commission, on the closing of the Home in 
August, 1865. Its history and statistics, down to March, 1864, are 
given in the history of the work of the Commission, (page 80,) 
published in the following May, with a lithograph of the Home as a 
frontispiece. It was under the superintendence of Mr. Waters 
during the two years and a half of its existence ; and his good 
and faithful management of it inspired the fullest confidence in his 
humanity, integrity and practical talent, and the highest appreciation 
of Ills valuable services to the soldier and to the Commission. To 
the worthy lady who was associated with him, as the Matron of 
the Home, Mrs. Lucy E. Starr, an equal meed of praise is due. 
Her services, first as a nurse in the Fifth street hospital at St. 
Louis, and for more than two years as Matron of the Memphis 
Soldiers' Home; her faithfulness, kindness, gentleness and constant 
devotion to the duties of her position, have secured for her the 
fullest confidence, and the grateful appreciation, not only of the 
n)embers of the Commission, but of all the soldiers who have, 
under her wise and good management of its domestic affairs, 
enjoyed the comforts of the Home. 

The report of Mr. Waters is so admirable, in the fullness of 
its statistics, and its narrative of facts, that it is here given entire: 



72 

"Soldiers' Home, Memphis, Tennessee, August 15, 1865. 
" Western Sanitary Commission, St. Louis, Mo., 

"Gentlemen: I have the honor to submit the following final 
report of the Soldiers' Home, established under your auspices, in 
tliis city, on the 13th day of February, 1863, having- since that date 
been in operation two years and six months inclusive : 

'* The whole number of soldiers entertained from the beginning 
lias been ninety-seven thousand (97,000). 

" The wliole number of meals furnished two hundred thousand 
(200,000). 

" The whole number of lodgings ninety-eight thousand seven 
hundred and eighty-one (98,781). 

" The whole number of colored soldiers entertained, one thousand 
and thirty (1,030). 

''The whole number of rebel soldiers entertained, three hundred 
and thirty- eight (338). 

" Tlie whole number of sick soldiers entertained, four thousand 
six hundred and ninety (4,690). 

" The whole number of deaths occurring in the Home seven- 
teen (17). 

"And tlie whole number of soldiers' friends, agents of frecdmen, 
teachers, and delegates of the Christian Commission, three thousand 
tlirec hundred and twenty-eight (3,328). 

" Of the above the "Western States are i-epresented in numbers 
as follows: Illinois, 12,340; Iowa, 4,685; Wisconsin, 3,906; Indiana, 
3,799; Missouri, 3,679; Ohio, 2,033; Minnesota, 1,877. 

" The balance is distributed among the other States of tlie Union, 
the New England States having the largest number. 

"The average number entertained each day since the Home 
opened, is 106. The lowest niimber in a single day is 10, and the 
hio-hest 800. 



73 

"The return of peace ouce more to our distracted land, and the 
disbandmeut of our armies, have reudei"ed it unnecessary to keep 
open the doors of the Soldiers' Home. Accordingly, on this, the 
15th day of August, 1865, they were formally closed, the Home 
having fully and satisfactorily accomplished the mission for which 
it was instituted. 

" In reviewing the past, and living over again the days, weeks 
and months of my service, in this work, I am astonished at its 
magnitude and surprised at the multitude, the great army of men 
from all States of the Union, who have filed through these halls 
so quietly, so pleasantly, and with so much of harmony. The last 
two years, into which the great bulk of our work has been crowded, 
have been only remembrances of happy family scenes, although the 
numbers of our family have varied much from day to day. Yet, 
when I look back and meet again the thousands of faces that have 
appeared and vanished from our home, like bubbles upon the foam- 
ing sea, I can remember nothing but pleasant smiles, contented 
faces, and heartfelt expressions of gratitude, such as ' God bless 
you !' ' God bless the Sanitary Commission !' ' What a pleasant home !' 
'How beautiful, how delightful!' 'Oh, I'll soon get well in this 
pleasant place!' 'Oh, sir, how kind they are to pi'ovide this for 
the sufifering soldier!' 'Our friends have done more for us than we 
could reasonably expect!' 'Boys, this is bully grub!' 'What bully 
good pillows!' 'What a splendid bed, Joe!' 'Bill, this mattress is 
better than our straw tick at home; Avish I could pack it along 
with me, in my knapsack!' And thus I could go on repeating 
thousands of similar expressions, which I have overheard, as our 
brave boys assembled around the table for their meals, or laid 
down upon their soft mattresses, to rest from the weary march. I 
can assure you, gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to remem- 
ber and repeat to you these expressions of gratitude, coming with 
so much sincerity from the hearts of our war-worn veterans, who 



74 

have so nobly aud valiantly fought, and conquered the foe of our 
beloved country. There are but few soldiers, among the vast mul- 
titude who have been entertained at your Home in Memphis, who 
will soon forget the benefits it has afforded them. In many cases 
soldiers have presented themselves to me with a demand for their 
bills, and were not a little surprised when informed that no charges 
were made ; that all they had received was a free gift of love, pro- 
vided for them by their friends in the Nortli, through the Sanitary 
Commission. Not unfrequently we have been startled by the 
vociferous cheering of soldiers, thus expressing their gratitude and 
appreciation, as they filed away in squads of from fifty to three 
hundred, to their i>osts of duty and danger in the field. 

"There is nothing in all my experience to wliich I look back 
with so much pride, and of which I love so well to speak, as the in- 
variable good conduct of our soldier guests, so gentlemanly, quiet 
and courteous as to cause expressions of surprise froni the many 
visitors who have inspected our Home. 

"We have never been so full but that there Avas room for 
another. No soldier has been turned away, although there was 
seldom a night when we had a vacant bed, and hundreds had to 
lie upon the hall floors, or under the trees, on the beautiful lawn 
in front of the Home. 

" At first, the military authorities looked upon our work with 
considerable distrust, and questioned somewhat its success and im- 
portance. Therefore, its progress aud management were vigilantly 
watched. This, however, soon wore off, and the Home became a 
popular and indispensable institution, in the estimation of the mili- 
tary of this department. So well pleased were the authorities, that 
on the 2oth December, 1864, Major General Dana, then command- 
ant of this district, issued an order, discontinuing the camp of 
distribution at Fort Pickering, and ordex-ing all soldiers, in detach- 
ments or singly, happening accidentally or otherwise, in the citj^, 



75 

to report at the Soldiers' Home for quarters and rations. Large, 
two-story barracks, capable of accommodating four hundred men, 
were erected, adjoining the main building. The Inspector General 
pronounced them the best planned and best built barracks in the 
depai'tment. A commissioned officer was appointed to furnish trans- 
portation for the men at the Home, and a surgeon, to examine the 
sick for transfer to the general hospital, leaving the entire management 
of the Home to the Superintendent. From the date of this change, 
our work became more enlarged and more impoi'tant, until peace 
ended the terrible struggle, and soldiers were permitted to return to 
their own firesides. In addition to shelter and food, hundreds of des- 
titute soldiers have been furnished with clothing from your generous 
supply of stores, so promptly forwarded when called for. We have 
never been without medicine, cordials, and farinacious food, so neces- 
sary for the large number of sick, temporarily admitted. It is 
gratifying to report so small a number of deaths, in view of the 
great number of invalids cared for. 

"It will be observed by the statistics that the hospitality of the 
Home has been extended not only to the Northern or Union patriot, 
])ut also to the freedman and to the rebel soldier. Not unfrequently 
we have been permitted to witness the Union white and colored 
soldier and the rebel "Johnnj^" seated at the same table, enjoying 
their meals in hai-mony and good feeling. 

" It will also be observed that a large number of delegates of the 
Christian Commission, freedmen, agents and teachers, and friends 
and relatives of sick and wounded soldiers, have been entertained. 
During the last year, the two former classes had to be excluded 
to make room for the increased number of soldiers. Some of the 
delegates of the Christian Commission have aided much to impart 
a Christian influence to our Home. Much good has been accom- 
plished by their frequent interviews with its guests. 

" Valuable assistance has been rendered the friends and relatives of 



76 

soldiers, wlieu, weary, discouraged aud heart-broken, thej^ have 
come, seekiug a sick husband, father, or brother, in some hospital 
or regiment. Here they have found a resting-place, advice, encour- 
agement, and, when needed, transportation, and have been sent on 
their way rejoicing. 

'^ It would not only be improper, but unjust, not to speak of the 
faithfulness and hearty co-operation of the excellent and much 
esteemed Matron, Mrs. Lucy E. Starr. Her mission has been full 
of trials and discouragements, yet she has patiently and uncom- 
plainingly struggled through them all ; and during my frequent 
absences, she has cheerfully assumed the entire responsibilities of 
the Home. Her Clnistiaii forbearance, and deep devotion to the 
cause of humanity, have won the admiration of all who have come 
within the sphere of her labors. 

"During the first part of May last the President of your Commis- 
sion visited the camp of the poor refugees in this city, and witnessed 
their distressing condition. Mrs. Starr's attention was thus directed 
to their sufferings, and immediately her sympathies were deeply 
enlisted. For weeks she visited, almost daily, the miserable abode 
of these unfortunate people, administering to the sick, going from 
pallet to pallet, and with her own hands, giving noiirishing food 
and medicines to manj"- helpless and friendless beings. During the 
latter part of May, a plan for the organization of a I'efugee hospi- 
tal was suggested to Major General C. C. "Washburn, which met 
his approval, and he immediately turned over for that purpose the 
barracks near the Soldiers' Home, which were converted into a hos- 
pital, and furnished by your Commission. To this the most desti- 
tute cases were transferred. With the assistance of Miss Marsiialu, 
an excellent and efficient lady, of long experience in hospitals, the 
institution was made a most useful one, in which much suffering was 
mitigated, and where some weary souls sped happily away to a better 
refuge than this world can afford. During the three months of its 



77 

existence 44 patients have been admitted, o3 Jiave been returned to 
their homes or friends, 8 sent to the city hospital, 2 orphans to the 
Leath Orphan Asylum of this city, and one orphan provided with a 
home in a good family in the city. The hospital closes on the 1st of 
September, in accoi'dance with orders from Headquarters, District 
West Tennessee, by which the building is to be torn down and 
used for other purposes. The Amei-ican Union Commission of New 
York contributed $160 towards the expenses of the above institution. 
''I have the pleasure of submitting herewith testimonial letters 
from general officers, who have witnessed the operations of the 
Sanitary Commission, and its good results in this lield. 
" Most respectfully submitted, 

''O. E. WATERS, 

" Superintendents 

The following testimonials, from general officers, on duty at Mem- 
phis, to the usefulness of the Soldiers' Home in that city, ai*e given, 
to show that the labors of the Commission for the good of the 
I^rivate soldier, were appreciated in the army, as well as at home: 

"Headquarters, Post Dekences, 
"Memphis, August 8, 1865. 

"As the ' Soldiers' Home,' at this post, opened over two years since, 
under the auspices of the ' Western Sanitary Commission,' is soon to 
be discontinued, I take pleasure in stating that the Home, as con- 
ducted for over eighteen months i^ast, during which time I have 
been in command in this city, has been of very great service to 
thousands of soldiers who have stopped there temporarily. The 
management of the Home, iinder the superintendence of that excel- 
lent Christian gentleman, Mr. O. E. Waters, has been most admi- 
rable. Mr. W. deserves great praise for the faithfulness and efficiency 
with which he has discharged the various duties of his position. 



78 

Many a weary and war-worn soldier, who lias been fed and sheltered 
at the Home, will long remember the kind care and generous atten- 
tion bestowed upon him while there. 

"A. CHETLAIN, 

a j^revet 3fajor General, commandin(j .'' 

" Headquarters, District Wkst Tennessbe, 
" Memphis, Tenn., August 11, 1865. 
*^0. P:. Waters, Esq., 

" Superintende?it Soldiers^ Home, Memphis, Tenn., 

''Dear Sir: Having been, for a long period, on duty in Mem- 
phis, as Assistant Adjutant General of this military district, 1 have 
had ample opportunity to witness the progress, and form a just 
estimate of the public benefits conferred by the Soldier's Home, in 
this city. 

" With the disbanding of our armies, the work of the Sanitary 
(commission, and the mission of the Soldiers' Home, are accom- 
plished. I cannot too cordially express my opinion of the great 
uses to the service, and to the nobler purposes of humanity 
effected by the institution, over which you have long and faithfully 
presided. 

'' A vast army of our wayfaring and disabled volunteers have hei-e 
found needed care and sustenance. 

"The thanks of the countiy are due to the benevolent founders of 
such an enterprise, and to those whose arduous and faithful efforts 
liave successfully achieved its object. 
" I am, sir, 

" Very respectfully, 

"Your ob't serv't, 

"W. H. MOKGAN, 
" Brevet Brigadier General and A. A. 6r." 



The Soldiers' Home at Columbus, Ky., was opcued on the 16th 
of February, 1863, and its history and statistics, down to May 1st, 
1864, are given in the history of the Commission and its labors, 
(page 83), published during that month. From that date till the 
spring of 1865, it continued under the superintendence of Mr. 
S. J. Orange, assisted by Mrs. Orange, as Matron, when it was 
closed. The labors of Mr. and Mrs. Orange were most useful and 
satisfactory to the (Commission, and highly appreciated by the thou- 
sands of soldiers who stopped at the Home. Mr. Orange also 
performed many duties of kindness and humanity towards the 
freedmen at this post, and exei-ted a truly moral and religious in- 
fluence upon those who were the objects of his ministry. 

The whole number of soldiers entertained at this Home, during 
a period of over two years that it existed, was one hundred and 
six thousand four hundred and ninety-six (106,496) ; the whole 
number of meals furnished was one hundred and ninety-nine thou- 
sand three hundred and twenty-two (199,322), and the whole 
number of lodgings given was o)ie hundred and four thousand five 
hundred and eighty-six, (104,586.) The number thus entertained 
belonged to regiments from Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, In- 
diana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, and other States, in similar pro- 
portions to those entertained at the Homes in St. Louis and Memphis, 
in the account of which they are given by States, as well as in the 
aggregate. 

The Soldiers' Home at Vicksburg was opened August 6th, 1863, 
and its history and statistics, down to May 1st, 1864, are given in 
the history of the Commission, (page 84), published at that date. It 
continued, under the superintendence of Mr. N. M. Mann, until 
its close, in May, 1865. 

The whole number of soldiers entertained at this Home, during 
nearly two years that it existed, was one hundred and fifteen 
thousand three hundred (115,300). The whole number of meals 



80 

famished WJis two hundred and nine thousand seven hundred and 
sixty (209,760), and the whole number of lodgings given was 
ninety-three thousand four hundred and twelve (93,412). The num- 
ber of guests belonging to the difterent States, were in similar 
proportions to those of the Plomes at St. Louis and Memphis, in 
the account of which they are both given in the aggregate and 
by States. 

The labors of Mr. Mann, both as Superintendent of this Home, 
and as the general agent of the Commission at Vicksburg, were 
most useful and satisfactory. In everything connected with his 
duties he manifested good judgment, accuracy, fidelity to the trusts 
committed to him, humanity and a Christian spirit. In addition 
to his other work, aided and supported by the Commission, he 
established a Refugee Home, superintended it, and made it a 
successful institution, of great benefit to the poor Union refugees, 
who found their way to that city. As agent of the Commis- 
sion, he went, in person, with large supplies of sanitar}^ stores, 
to meet the returning army of General Sherman at Jackson, after 
its first celebrated march towards the interior of the Confederacy, 
in Avhich thousands of refugees and frcedmen returned with 
him ; and subsequently he took food and clothing to the camps of 
the " contrabands," as they were called, who had accompanied their 
deliverer on his triumphant march. In all these labors he proceeded 
with so much judgment and consideration as to secure the co-opera- 
tion and respect of the military authorities, the best interests of the 
Soldiers' Home, and the good of those who wei-e the objects of 
public charity. 

In the management of the Home he was ably assisted b.y the 
Matron and Assistant Matron, Mrs. S. A. Plummer and Miss IIattie 
WiswELL, and by the voluntary labors of Mrs. Governor Harvey, of 
Wisconsin, who spent many months at Vicksburg, where she became 
widelv known as the Union soldier's friend. 



81 

The Soldiers' Home at Helena, Ark., was established February 
11th, 1864, the history and statistics of which are brought down to 
the following May in the history of the Commission, (page 85), 
published at that date. It continued, under the superintendence of 
Eev. John I. Hekrick, Chaplain 29th Wisconsin Infantry, with Mrs. H. 
A. Haiis"-i:s, as Matron, until it was closed in the spring of 1865. 
During the fifteen months it was in existence, the whole number of 
soldiers entertained was seventeen thousand six hundred and thirty- 
five (17,635) ; the whole number of meals furnished was forty thou- 
sand and three hundred (40,300), and the whole number of lodgings 
provided was fifteen thousand eight hundred and ten, (15,810). 

Besides his duties as Superintendent of the Home, Chaplain 
Herrick acted as an agent of the Commission for the distribution 
of sanitary stores to the regiments stationed at Helena, to the 
hospitals, to the refugees and freedmen, and to the Freedmen's 
Orphan Asylum. In the fulfilment of tliese duties, his accounts 
were accurate, and his services highly satisfactory to the Commis- 
sion and to the commander of the post. Brigadier General Buford, 
who, with his lady, rendered much good counsel and valuable assist- 
ance in the work of the Commission at that place, and took a 
warm interest in the Avelfare of the soldier, and in the relief of 
suflering among the freedmen and refugees. The labors of Mrs. 
Haines, as Matron of the Home, Avere also highly satisfactory, and 
were performed with the utmost fidelity and devotion to the wel- 
fare and comfort of^the soldiers. 

During the autumn and winter of 1864-5, the Commission employed 
Mr. Wm. F. Allen, of West Newton, Mass., as a general agent 
at Helena, to receive and distribute sanitary supplies to the hos- 
pitals of that post, and to the regiments stationed there, (there 
being many sick) to supply the freedmen and refugee hospitals, 
and to aid in the work of organizing schools and superintending 
teachers for the freedmen. For several months Mr. Allen 



82 

performed these duties in a very thorougli and satisfactory manner, 
when he was obliged to return to Massachusetts. 

In the month of August, 1864, the Commission establislied a 
Soldiers' Home at Duvall's Bluff", on White river, Arkansas, to 
meet the wants of soldiers going- to and from the army of Gen- 
eral Steele, at Little Rock, who generally had to stop for two 
or three days at this place, awaiting transportation, and for want 
of accommodation had often to sleep out of doors, exposed to 
to the malaria of that region; many of whom, being just from 
the hospitals, were in no condition to endure such exposure. The 
"White river being deeper and navigable for a longer period than 
the Arkansas, transportation was usually effected by this route, and 
by railroad from Duvall's Bluff* to Little Rock, so that tliis land- 
ing place became an important military post, although exceedingly 
deficient in comfortable houses or means of entertainment. By 
means of hospital tents and building material, the Commission 
erected a good Home, and established a sanitary agency here. It 
became at once a most useful institution, and afforded lodging and 
meals, without cost, to several thousand soldiers, during nearly the 
whole year that it was continued, and the agency for sanitary stores 
became a necessary medium through which supplies were furnished 
to the general hospital at this post, and to the regiments of colored 
and white troops stationed here, and also to refugees and frecd- 
men. Through some neglect of registration, or a failure to forward 
to the Commission regular reports of the number of guests, we 
cannot give the precise number entertained, and the number of 
meals and lodgings furnished, but judging from the accommodations, 
the supplies furnished, and the number of troops passing, the 
statistics of this Home would correspond very nearly with those 
of the Home at Helena. By this estimate, deducting for a three 
months' shorter duration, wc may set down the whole num- 
1>er of guests entertained as fourteen thousand one hundred and 



eight (14,108), the whole number of meals furnished as thirty-two 
thousand two hundred and thirty-eight (32,238), and the whole 
number of lodgings given as twelve thousand six hundred and 
forty-eight (12,648). 

The first Superintendent of this Home was Mr. T. C. Moody, 
who filled the position, and acted also as sanitary agent, satisfacto- 
rily, for several months. He was succeeded, in March, 1865, by 
Mr. E. Hackett, who discharged faithfully the duties of Superin- 
tendent and agent till the month of August following. Mrs. Mary 
Allen, who had been a most excellent hospital nurse, was for a 
time the active and efiicient Matron of the Home. Both the 
Home and agency, as well as the larger agency at Little Rock, 
under Mr. George E. Wyeth, were all discontinued in the summer 
of 1865. 

The agency at Little Eock was established, on the takiug of that 
place by General Steele, of which an account is given in the 
history of the Commission, (page 93) ; and a lai'ge supply of sani- 
tary stoi'es was kept constantly on hand there, for distribution to 
the hospitals, as needed, and to other neighboring posts in Arkan- 
sas — at Pine Bluff and Fort Smith, and even at Duvall's Bluff and 
the Soldiers' Home there, as well as to the refugees and freedmen 
at those stations — from the fall of 1863 till after the close of the 
war. In this work Mr. AVteth acted with efiiciency and fidelity 
to the interests committed to him, and accompanied General Steele 
on his march to Camden and his retreat to Little Rock, rendering 
valuable assistance to the surgeons in the care of the sick and 
wounded, at Pine Blufi", Fort Smith and Little Rock, and re- 
establishing the agency at the last place. 

The extent of the benefit conferred on our soldiers by the sol- 
diers' homes, sustained and conducted by the Western Sanitary 
Commission, may be still further appreciated by so far consolida- 
tng the reports of them as to show how many have shared their 



84 

hospitality during the war. Adding their statistics together, we 
tind that these homes have entertained four hundred and twenty- 
one thousand six hundred and sixteen soldiers, (421,616) ; have 
furnished nine hundred and eighty-two thousand five liundred and 
ninety -two (982,592) meals, and four hundred and ten thousand 
two hundred and fifty-two (410,252) lodgings, without charge. The 
Home at St. Louis is still continued, and entertains an average of 
two thousand guests per mouth, being as useful and necessary as 
at any former period. 



CHAPTER IV, 



Refugees and Fbeedmen— Statistics— Refugees at St. Louis— Refugee Orphans 
— Touching Incidents— A Case of Persecution — Refugees at Pilot Knob— At 
RoLLA— At Springfield, Mo. — At Cape Girardeau — At Leavenworth and Fort 
Scott— At Vicksburg — At Helena, Ark.— At Nashville, Tenn. — At Chattanooga 
—At Little Rock, Ark.— Letter of Gov. Murphy — Refugee and Freedmen's 
Home, established on Broadway, St. Louis— Letter of Mr. Yeatman to Mr. 
Odiorne — National Bureau of Refugees a:^d Freedmen — Letter of Mr. 
Yeatman to General Howard — Letter to Brigadier General Sprague — 
Letter of the Secretary^ to General Howard — List of Articles Distrib- 
uted to Refugees and Freedmen — Labors for Freedmen — Acknowldgment 
—Establishment of a Freedmen's Orphan's Home in St. Louis — Indenture- 
Schools for Colored Children in St. Louis — Donation from Switzerland 

I Penny Fund — Letter of Mr. Yeatman to Mr. Jaccard— Other Donations— 

; Freedmen's National Monument. 



An account of the work of the Western Sanitaiy Commission 
for the Union refugees and the freedmen of the South, down to the 
holding of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, in May, 1864, is 
given in the history of the Commission, Chapter X, pages 110-128, 
published at that time, and a brief outline of its continuance at 
the time of the invasion of Missouri by the rebel General Price, 
in the fall of 1864, has already been given in these pages. It 
now remains to add, in this chapter, the statistics of this work, 
receipts and expenditures, and such particulars concerning refugee 
homes, freedmen's hospitals, schools for the children of both these 
classes, and the distribution of clothing and sanitary stores to these 
people, as have not already been given. 

On the 1st of November, 1864, the Commission published a 
pamphlet report of forty-four pages, on the white refngees from the 
South, from which we gather several facts, essential to this chapter. 
After giving an account of the early labors of Mr. John S. Cav- 
ENDER (now deceased), in behalf of the Union refugees in St. 



86 

Louis, tlie establishment and coiitinuauce of the Refugee Home at 
29 Walnut street, for one year, from September 1st, 1863, to Sep- 
tember 1st, 1864, the constant arrival of refugees from ISIissouri 
and the slave States bordering on the Mississippi river, and the 
accommodations allowed them by the Govcx*nment, at Benton Bar- 
racks, the following statement is given: _ 

The number of destitute Union refugees received at Benton Bar- 
racks up to the present date (October 26th, 1864,) is 104 men, 222 wo- 
men and 421 children, total 767, which, added to the number 
received and provided for at the Refugee Home in the city, from 
September 1st, 1803, to September 1st, 1864, makes a total of 2931 
refugees assisted in connection with the labors of the "Western Sani- 
tary Commission during this period, not including those aided by 
Mr. Cavendek's labors during the first year and a half of the war. 

The rations allowed by the Government to destitute Union refu- 
gees and freedmen's families, not able to provide for themselves, 
was specially designated by an order of the "War Department, as 
follows : 

*' The following is hereby established as the ration for issue by 
the Subsistence Department to adult refugees, and to adult colored 
persons, commonly called "contrabands,'' when they are not employed 
at labor by the Government, and who may have no means of sub- 
sisting themselves, viz: 10 oz. of pork or bacon, or 1 lb. of fresh 
beef; 1 lb. of corn meal five times a week, and 1 lb. of flour or 
soft bread or 12 oz. of hard bread twice a week; and to every 
100 rations, 10 lbs. beans, i)eas, or hominj^, 8 lbs. of sugar, 2 qts. 
of vinegar, 8 oz. of candles, 2 lbs. of soap, 2 lbs. of salt, and 15 lbs. 
of potatoes when practicable. To children under fourteen years of 
age, half rations will be issued ; and to women and children, roasted 
rye coffee, at the rate of 10 lbs., or tea at the rate of 15 oz., to 
every 100 rations." 

An order from the Headquarters of the Department of the 



87 

Missouri required that tlic Cvhaplains, to whom this work of charity 
was usually assigned, should confine it to those who, without this 
aid, would be ''in danger of starvation;" and that they should 
certify on the back of the j)rovision returns that the persons drawn 
for were " unable to work." It also required that the relief given 
should be ''temporary," and not permanent. 

The whole number of refugees for whom transportation was 
obtained from the Government, and from the railroads and steam- 
boats by the Commission, to assist them to reach their friends, or 
places of employment, in the free AVestern States, from October 17th, 
1863, to Oct. 25th, 1864, was 202 men, 493 women, and 682 chil- 
dren, making a total of 1377 persons, besides many young children 
under four years of age, who passed without any fare being charged. 

Besides assisting the refugees in these several ways, the Western 
Sanitary Commission furnished large supplies of clothing — thousands 
of coats, pantaloons, under-clothing, women's dresses, shawls, shoes, 
comforters, and other articles of bedding — to the more destitute. It 
helped many families to commence housekeeping, purchasing for 
them cooking-stoves and the most necessary articles of furniture, 
so that they might support themselves, and not become a charge 
to the Government. It also established a school at Benton Bar- 
racks for the children of the refugees, under Miss Samantha Mon- 
roe as teacher, where 140 children received instruction from June 
1st, 1864, to February 1st, 1865. 

In all these labors in behalf of the refugees in this city, the 
Commission enjoyed the friendly sanction and active co-operation 
of all our department and district commanders — Major Generals 
Halleck, Curtis, Schofield, Rosecrans, Dodge and Pope, and 
Brigadier Generals Fisk and Eaving — who granted every reason- 
able request, in furnishing quarters and authorizing the issue 
of fuel and rations to all who were unable to provide for them- 
selves, and who must otherwise have suifered or perished. 



88 

01" all the refugees who applied to the Comuussioii for assist- 
ance, not more than one-tenth were able to read and write. 
The}' uniformly professed to be loyal to the Union, and many of them 
gave touching accounts of the manner in which they had been per- 
secuted, driven from their homes by guerrillas, and their husbands 
murdered, sometimes before their eyes. The picture of tlieir suf- 
ferings, on arriving at St. Louis, was often so sad and distressing 
as to draw tears from eyes not used to weep. On a single boat 
from the White river, in Arkansas, we sometimes had an arrival 
of fifty families of refugees, old, decrepid men, sickly and feeble 
women, puny and diseased children, clothed in rags, lying on bun- 
dles of miserable bedding, landed on the levee, without food or 
money to procure either food or a place of shelter for a single 
night. This happened one day last summer, towards evening, aud 
teams could not be had that night to convey them to Benton Bar- 
racks. The President of the Commission (Mr. Yeatmak) went 
and provided them with bread and coffee for supper and breakfast, 
and they remained all night on the levee, sleeping there with no 
shelter but the starry sky. The next day a dozen Quartermasters' 
teams conveyed them to the refugee quarters at Benton Barracks; 
rations were procured for them ; the sick (being full half the 
number,) were taken to a ward of the general hospital, set apart 
for the purpose; and the Commission furnished shoes and clothing 
to the most naked and destitute, and articles of necessity for the 
hospital ward, with a matron and cook to assist in its management. 

As these people recovered their health, they were assisted with 
transportation to reach homes in the country, and directed to places 
of employment ; thus making room for others, subsequently arriving 
in the same condition. Many deaths, however, occurred of the more 
feeble and sickly ; and sometimes whole families of orphans were 
left on our hands, by the death of their pai-ents while here. 

Since the 1st of August, 1863, forty refugee orphan children have 



89 

been sent by the Commission to the Mission Free Scliool, on Eighth 
street, established and snpported by the Church of tlie Messiah, (Rev. 
Dr. Eliot,) in this city, and to the Protestant Orphan Asylum, on 
Seventh street. Here they were cared for ; and, if sick, retained till 
they were restored to health ; instruction was given them in the 
daily school, and homes provided for them, by indenture to suita- 
ble persons applying for them at these institutions. 

A touching incident occuiTcd last summer, in the case of a 
family arriving from the White river country, in Ai-kansas. A 
mother and her children were lauded on the levee, with their few 
articles of bedding ; and, not being informed that she could be 
assisted at the sanitary rooms by the superinteudant of refugees, 
and being sick, she went, with her children, except the oldest boy, 
directly to Benton Barracks, leaving him behind to take care of 
some bedding and household goods that she could not take with 
her, and telling him to wait there for her return the next day, 
when she would come for him. The little fellow stayed all night 
on the levee with the goods, and all the next day, without food ; 
but no mother came. At last he was found by the agents and 
President of the Commission, and the sad information given 
him that his mother had died the next morning after she 
reached Benton Barracks. He gave way at once to heart-broken 
sobs and tears, and would not be comforted. He, with the other 
children, was afterwards taken to the Mission Free School. An- 
other touching case also occurred, in which a mother and eight 
children were sent to the refugee hospital at Benton Barracks, 
where they all died, except three of the children, who were also 
sent to the Mission Free School. 

Still another incident occurred, of much interest, in connection 
with the refugee orphans. A mother, from Arkansas, having two 
daughters, died at the Refugee Home, and left them on our hands. 
They were taken to the Mission Free School, and informed the 



90 

Matron that they had an aunt in AVisconsin, who was in good 
cii-cumstances, and would give them a home if they could get to 
her, but they did not know in what part of Wisconsin she lived. 
She had once visited their i^arents' home in Arkansas, and they 
remembered her name. The Secretary of the Commission sent an 
advertisement to the Wisconsin papers, which met the eyes of 
persons who knew their aunt, who was dead ; and the executor 
of the estate wrote that a farm worth two thousand dollars was 
left, to which these children w^ere joint heirs with a nephew living 
on the farm. Transportation was immediately procured for them, 
a little money given to pay expenses on the way, and they were 
sent forward to their new homes. 

The following case of rebel persecution will afford an instance, 
out of thousands, of what these people often suffer in the South, 
and on their journey to a place of refuge : Last summer there 
came to the Refugee Home, a mother, Avith her four little children, 
trying to reach her friends in Kentuck}'. She was an intelligent 
woman, of the better class of refugees. She said she had lived 
near Ja^ksonport, AVhite river, Arkansas ; that her husband owned 
a farm, well stocked with cattle, horses and provisions, and was 
in prosperous circumstances. He was known as a Union man, and 
often had to lie out in the woods — called in the South "the 
brush" — for weeks, to escape being conscripted in the i-ebel army 
or murdered. Sometimes the guerrillas would come and take away 
whatever suited them of his property — his horses, cattle, and corn — 
as they pleased, and even the bed-clothes from the beds, and the 
family apparel. At last they caught him once at home, where he 
had come to see his little family, and spend a few days with them 
under his own roof. They called him out into his door yard, told 
him he was a d — d traitor to the South, tore him away with 
violent hands from his weeping wife and children, marched him a 



91 

short distance clown the road, and murdered him in cold blood, 
the report of their murderous weapons reaching his own doors. 

After this they returned, and told his Aveeping widow that she 
had better pack up and go to Pilot Knob, where the Feds would 
take care of her, or they Avould burn her house over her head. 
Some days later, she yoked up the last ox team that had been 
left them, and putting her bedding and her children in the wagon, 
with their clothing and some of her husband's apparel that she 
wished to keep, she started for Pilot Knob, a distance of about 
two hundred miles. Traveling about fifteen miles a day, when she 
had been nearly a week upon the road, and her little stock of corn- 
meal and bacon was nearly exhausted, she w^as met by a band of 
rebel marauders, who stopped her in the road, and inquired where 
she was going. The poor woman, being much alarmed, answered 
that her husband was dead, and she was trying to go to her friends 
in Kentucky. 

**AYell," said they, "what have j'ou got here?" and they began 
to rummage the wagon, from which they took her deceased hus- 
band's clothes, and her bed quilts, and the corn-meal and bacon 
that was left, and then they unhitched the yoke of steers from 
the old wagon, and said to her : 

" "We cannot allow you to take these things into the Federal 
lines. You say your husband is dead ; how did he die ? Put to 
death for being a traitor ? G — d d — n him, served him right. 
And you are going to your friends in Kentucky ? Union people, 
eh ! Then you can travel on foot to Pilot Knob, and the Feds 
'11 take care of you thei-e. They'll give you more blankets and 
clothes, and give you rations besides." 

The poor woman pleaded with tears, her little children crying 
around her, that they would leave her the team, and the bed- 
ding, and the little food she had, and let her go on her way; 
but they jeered at her, mocked and laughed at her distress, and 



92 

took her team aud everything she hud, and left her with her chil- 
dren crying in the road ; after Avhicli she pursued her way on foot, 
with the little children, to Pilot Knob, and received free passage 
by the Iron Mountain railroad to St. Louis. 

On their arrival at the Refugee Home they were kindly cared 
for, and assisted to reach their friends in Kentucky, where the poor 
woman and her children, as we afterwards learned by letter, found 
her own father's house, and a welcome to the paternal home. 

Hundreds of instances like this, differing only in the kind and 
degree of persecution, might be narrated, but this must suffice. 

The number of Union refugees at Pilot Knob was always very 
large, ranging from one thousand to fifteen hundred persons, de- 
pending on aid from the Government in rations and places of shel- 
ter. During the month of July, 180 i, the number of persons assisted 
in this manner was 1346, and in August, 1180. They were, with 
a few exceptions, poor people from southeast Missouri and Arkan- 
sas, ignorant, unable to read and write, accustomed to live in 
squalid wretchedness, the poor ''white trash" of the Soutli, a class 
from which the rebels largely recruited their armies by consci'ip- 
tion, and left their families, widowed and orphaned, to find their 
way to our lines to save themselves from staiwation. They uni- 
formly claimed to be Union people, were willing enough to take 
the oath of allegiance, but did not reallj^ understand what was 
essential to loyalty, or the merits of the conflict in which we were 
engaged. Nevertheless they were human beings ; and, although in 
the lowest stage of civilization, they were thrown upon our char- 
ity, and with their children had to be provided for, improved as 
much as possible, or be left to perish. Another and better class 
of them, however, had been faithful to the Government under every 
form of persecution, and were not only refugees, but soldiers' fam- 
ilies, who deserved all the sympathy and aid that could be given. 
No class suffered more than these, the special objects of rebel 



93 

atrocity aud outrage, and none were more loyal to their country's 
cause. 

The number of rations issued by the Government to these poor 
destitute j)eople at Pilot Knob, during the month of August, 1864, 
was 16,915, and the value of them, $1,691.50, which is a fair aver- 
age of the charity of the Government at that post for nearly the 
whole period of the war. These charities were continued till 
October 1st, 1865. 

During the winter of 1863-4, the Western Sanitary Commission 
forwarded to Chaplain A. Wright, tlien superintendent of refugees 
at that post, large supplies of clothing and shoes for distribution, 
glazed window-sash for new refugee buildings, and axes for women 
to cut their own fuel, (which many of them did that winter, car- 
rying it from the woods on their own shoulders,) and medicines 
for the sick, of whom there were many at this post. 

Active service Avas also rendered in their behalf by Brigadier 
General Clinton B. Fisk, then commanding the District of St. 
Louis, and his noble wife, who procured several hundred dollars' 
worth of material for clothing, as a donation from the merchants 
of St. Louis, went down with it to Pilot Knob, and attended to 
its distribution in person. It is impossible to estimate the value of 
the contributions sent to this post for these people, but it is known 
to have proved a most timely and providential relief to them. 

During the winter, spring and summer of 1865, the Western 
Sanitary Commission continued to send clothing to this post, for 
the destitute, to be given out by Chaplains S. T. McNeilly and 
C. H. Love JOY. 

The number of colored refugees or freedmen, assisted at Pilot 
Knob, in the same way, during July, 1864, was 160, and in August, 
125 ; the number of rations issued to them in August of the same 
year, was 1280, and the value, $128.00. Yet there were about as 
many colored refugees at Pilot Knob as whites, but they were far 



94 

more self-supporting', and took much better care of themselves. 
During- the summer, colored refugee women, of their own accord, 
planted their door yards with vegetables, and kept them looking 
clean, and their children healthy, while the white refugees utterly 
neglected any such efforts to help themselves, or improve their con- 
dition. Such have been the paralyzing effects upon the industry of 
the poor whites of the South by their contact with the system of 
slavery, rendering them a far less promising class of our population 
than the negroes, whom they so much despise, and affect to con- 
sider so much inferior to themselves. 

During the month of October, 1864, the poor refugees of Pilot 
Knob were peeled and scattered by the capture of that post by 
the rebel General Sterling Price and his ruffian hordes, who, for 
a time, occupied it. Hundreds of refugees from that place, who 
assisted Brigadier General Thomas Ewing to defend it, came to St. 
Louis, applying- to the Western Sanitary Commission for aid, stating 
that they had been obliged to leave their families — some of them secret- 
ed in the woods, othei's in rebel hands — and escape for their lives. On 
one day sixty men, with their German pastor from Pilot Knob, 
came, some of them, without jackets, or shoes, or a blanket, only 
half clothed, and received additions of clothing and some rations to 
subsist upon till they could go back and find their families. Many 
families of women and children also found their way to St. Louis 
during that month, and were provided by the Commission and the 
Government, with shelter and i-atious, and by the Commission with 
clothing, to protect their persons, and bedding- for a covering at 
night. The Western Sanitary Commission also sent a g-ood supply 
of clothing to Chaplain T. C. McNeilly, superintendent of refugees 
at Pilot Knob, for distribution to the destitute at that place, the 
post being afterwards re-occupied by our troops. 

During' the war, Rolla was a city of refuge for many refugees 
from Southwest Missouri. An average of three hundred persons 



95 

were sheltered and rationed here by the Government all the time, 
and thousands reached this post and passed on to St. Louis to 
scatter themselves through the free States of the West. In August, 
there were two hundred families here drawing rations from the 
Government, and many sick. 

The refugees of this post were visited by Mr. Yeatman, the 
President of the Commission, during the first summer, and finding 
many refugee children there, with no public school they could attend, 
the Commission, on his return, established a school for them, with 
Mrs. H. F. Hoes as teacher, and subsequently employed Miss Alice 
F. Royce, from Wisconsin, as an assistant, the school having reached 
the number of one hundred and fifty pupils. This school con- 
tinued in successful operation, doing an important work, until the 
close of the war. 

A liberal supply of clothing for the destitute was sent to this 
place, and distributed, through a committee of ladies, to the most 
needy. Much assistance was rendered in this by tlie superintend- 
ent of refugees at Rolla, Chaplain A. H. Tucker, and by Surgeon 
M. P. Hanson and Dr. Robinson. 

In a letter of Mr. Tucker to Rev. J. G. Forjian, the Secretary 
of the Commission and superintendent of refugees, dated August 
20th, 1864, he thus describes the condition of things : 

" Refugees are constantly coming in from the southwest. There 
are now over two hundred destitute families here, partly subsisted 
by Government. There is a great deal of sickness among them, 
and assistance, by way of something nourishing for the sick to eat, 
is much needed. The school books and clothing were duly received, 
and, according to Mr. Yeatman's orders, turned over to Dr. Han- 
son and the Ladies' Refugee Aid Society," 

A school for the children of freedmen was afterwards established 
by the Northwestern Freedmen's Aid Commission, under Miss 
Royce. 



96 

At the distant outpost of Spriugfield, Missouri, thousands of refu- 
gees received temporary aid from the Government, in rations from 
the Commissary, and in clothing" and money sent from the Com- 
mission to Chaplain Frederick H, Wines, formerly superintendent 
of these people at that post. They were not encouraged to remain 
there, and generally found their way in Government wagons to 
RoUa, and thence by cars to St. Louis, scattering themselves in 
the free States of the West, where they could find employment 
and a livelihood. Yet the number constantly at Springfield, 
recruited by new arrivals from the troubled regions of xirkansas, 
was always large. 

A home and school for orphan children, made such by tlie war, 
many of them refugees, was established here by benevolent ladies, 
in which the Hon. Mrs. John S. Phelps has taken an active part. 
This school has been much assisted by the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission, which has aided it with funds, through Mrs. Phelps, and 
provided an excellent teacher in Mrs. Mary A. Whittaker, who 
receives her salary from the Commission. 

Many of the families left destitute in Southwest Missouri have 
lost their husbands and fathers in the service of the Government; 
for the southwest i^ortion of the State had fewer slaves, and was 
more loyal than the slaveholding region along the Missouri river, 
and the Platte river country of Western Missouri. 

The following extracts of letters from Chaplain Wines, will help 
to show the condition of the refugees of this part of the country, 
at that time : 

" Springfield, Mo., June 8, 1864. 
" James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

" My Dear Sir : I write to speak of the necessity that exists, 
that the Western Sanitarj^ Commission should do something for the 
multitudes of refugees who flock to this place from Arkansas and 



97 

Texas. They come in by scores daily. Every train from the 
South comes loaded with them, and those who have wagons of 
their own, come in trains by themselves. One hundred wagon 
loads of them crossed the \Yhite river at Forsyth one week, not 
long ago. 

"These poor creatures are, for the most part, entirely destitute. 
The Government does nothing more for them than to keep them 
from starving. They are furnished with a soldier's half ration each 
of flour, bacon, beans, and hominy; and when they die, the Gov- 
ernment provides coffins for them. Cofiee and sugar ai'e not fur- 
nished, because, if they were, multitudes would draw rations to 
obtain these luxux'ies, who could support themselves very well, with- 
out help. No clothing of any kind is given them. They are, how- 
ever, attended gratuitously, and fnrnisiied with medicine, in case of 
sickness. 

"As an ordinary thing, refugees are not allowed to remain at this 
post, on account of the impossibility of transporting provisions for 
such a multitude as would then be gathered together here, but are 
sent to some post upon a river or railroad. 

" Oftentimes a little money would relieve a great deal of suffering, 
if judiciouslj^ expended. For instance, there have been many who 
could have made ci'ops, but could not purchase seed-corn. The 
Government cannot furnish seed-corn. For the want of a few dol- 
lars, many have gone on, who would otherwise have become pro- 
ducers instead of consumers. Often, in case of sickness, and espe- 
cially of childbirth, a little money would procure necessarj^ delicacies 
in the way of diet, which might save lives otherwise certain to be 
lost. Often a man or woman settles down to make a crop, but 
while the crop is growing, cannot obtain both food and clothing. 
A little clothing furnished him would take him off" the Govern- 
ment in point of dependence for food, which he could then earn 
by his own exertions. 



98 

" There is no fuud here for the relief of such cases. Money is 
imperatively needed for tliem. General Sanborn says that $50,000 
would not be too much to relieve the distress of the communit5^ 
Everything is scarce and high. 

" Over $1,500 was sent from here to the Sanitary Fair. It has 
been the universal expectation that all this, and more, would be 
returned here for the relief of refugees. I wi'ite to inquire what 
the Commission proposes to do for us. 

" Hoping for an early reply, I am, with sentiments of sincere esteem, 
" Your obedient servant, 

" FEED. H. WINES, 
*' Chaplain and Superintendent of Refugees." 

In subsequent letters. Chaplain Wines says : " I thank you sin- 
cerely, in the name of the refugees, for your kindness in author- 
izing me to draw on you for $250 for their relief.'" — June 24, 1864. 

" I wish to express to you my sincere thanks, and the thanks of 
the sufferers at and around this post, for the relief which you 
have sent them in the shape of goods. * * The Western 
Sanitary Commission is doing a noble work, and every well-wisher 
of liis country must wish it God-speed. * * * There is 
much sickness here, and the doctors frequently apply to me for 
delicacies for their indigent patients. * * * The supplies 
sent to the hospital were received and duly appreciated. I sup- 
pose that the surgeon has duly acknowledged them. Thej' relieve 
a great deal of suffering. * * * -jj^g refugees coming 
to this post, are, almost without exception, soldiers' families, — the 
destitute wives and children of the U. S. Volunteers, from the 
State of Arkansas. They have been driven from their homes; 
they have been i-obbed of all which they once possessed ; they 
have been set down in our midst, homeless, friendless, and penni- 
less. Tlundi-eds of them lie, day and night, by the roadside, exposed 



99 

to the scorching suu and the pelting storm, without so much as a 
blanket to shield them from the sky. * * * j ^gj^. ^^ere, 
upon earth, can families be found whose necessities are so pressing 
as those of the naked and famishing wretches, who arrive here by 
hundreds with every Government train from the South? They are 
not to be found." — August 2d, 1864. 

Many refugees from Southeast Missouri also reached Cape Girar- 
deau, and were aided with rations from the Government. Chap- 
lain IST. N. Wood, D. "D., was superintendent there, and his 
report for July and August, 1864, shows a monthly average of 340 
persons assisted at that i)ost. Many of them, also, had husbands 
and fathers in the United Stales military service, or were widowed 
and orphaned by the war. A liberal supply of clothing was sent 
by the Western Sanitary Commission to this place for these suffer- 
ing people. Chaplain E. O'Brien succeeded Chaplain Wood, and 
large supplies of clothing and medicines were sent to him for dis- 
tribution. A physician was also sustained here for a time by the 
Commission . 

The number of destitute Union refugees arriving at Leavenworth 
and Fort Scott, Kansas, was very large, amounting to thousands, 
and Mr. J. R. Brown, agent of the Western Sanitary Commission 
at Leavenworth, and Chaplain Charles Reynolds, at Fort Scott, 
were indefatigable in their efforts to relieve these poor people, to 
find for them support, and to assist them on their way. Being 
without sufficient means of shelter, they procured worn-out and 
condemned tents from the Government, to shelter them from the 
sun and storm, issued to them clothing and sanitarj"^ stores, and 
procured Government rations for their subsistence. 

At Leavenworth, Mr. Broavn established schools for the cliildren 
of the colored and white refugees, and had several teacliers ; one 
of whom, Mrs. Nettie C. Constant, was supported in her work 
by this Commission, besides the general aid given to Mr. Brown 



100 

iu his great work. The Commission sent to him over oue thou- 
sand school books for his schools, many boxes of clothing, a large 
supply of medicines, and appropriated one hundred dollars a mouth 
towards his work, besides several special appropriations. 

The followiug communication relates mostly to the colored refu- 
gees, sometimes called " contrabands," but coming under the same 
charity : 

" Leavenworth, September 1. 1864. 
" James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

" President Western Sanitary Cornynission, 

"Dear Sir: Enclosed, you have my report of receipts and 
disbursements for August. "SYe have our Freedmen's Home under 
full operation, have a school iu one part of one of the buildings, 
and can already see the benefit of our enterprise in many ways. 
Our plan, in short, is to take in the worn-down and helpless, 
just up from below, suffering with all sorts of diseases induced 
by every exposure by the way. Our wash-house is the first apart- 
ment to enter, where all filthy and infected clothing is removed, 
and a thorough cleansing takes place. The office is the next 
place, where names and particulars are recorded. Then the dining 
room is opened, and wholesome food is furnished, and then rest 
is allowed, and in one or two days, these tired, wretched beings, 
look and act like men, women, and children. We advertise to 
furnish help of every kind desired, and when we have calls for 
it, we know just who are in condition to go out, and such are 
called into the office, and at first sight present a wholesome appear- 
ance, and are almost sure to please. Then, again, persons vvishing 
to hire help, come there, expecting to pay a reasonable price, and 
put themselves under obligations, which they would not feel, if they 
had picked up their help in the street, or it had been urged on 
them by some poor, starved seeker for work. Then, again, we can 



101 

feed, doctor, teach, and shelter them, at less expense, in this way, 
than any other. 

" I draw for $400.00 of the Boston fnnd, to tit np the estab- 
lishment, and for $100.00, your monthly appropriation. After this, 
I shall try to use only enough to keep the institution going. 
" Yours, very respectfully, 

''J. R. BROWN." 

"Leavenworth, Septetnh&r 10, 1864. 
"Rev. J. G. FoKMAN, 

^'■Secretary Western Sanitary Commission, 

"Respected Brother: I send you, with this, copies of letters, 
showing you a part of our work, better than I can tell you in 
my own language. * * * * * All our hospitals are well 
filled, but not to that extent that we should expect, from the 
exposure of our soldiers, and the extreme hot weather of the present 
season. Our Freedmen's Home works to a charm. Oh, how I wish 
that we could establish others like it ! We must do so, if possi- 
ble. Tents, and relief for the refugees, have been sent to Fort 
Scott. I find, in Mrs. Constant, a most valuable and agreeable 
co-workei", and she cannot fail to do good. 

" Yours, very truly, 

"J. R. BROWN." 

"Fort Scott, Kansas, September 25, 1864. 
" Bro. J. R. Brown, , 

'''' Agent Sanitary Commission: 

" I send you a condensed account of my disbursements for the 
past season for freedmen and refugees. Number of women, 968; 
children, 1,292. Comforts, 463; sheets, 220; skirts, 318; shirts, 
2,047 ; drawers, 397 ; dresses, 196 ; pairs shoes, 348 ; socks, 967. 
There are quite a number of women and cliildren here that are 



102 

very needy of clothing, and we have not a suit to give them. 
Many have died during the season, and many more are sick, and 
must die from exposure in coming up from Dixie. Since they landed 
here, for weeks they were Avithout tents, until you sent them some 
from Leavenworth. Since that they have had comfortable quarters ; 
but they must have clothing for the winter, or perish with cold. 

" The above report does not embrace all that I have received 
from )^ou and St. Louis, for there were hundreds of articles not 
worth recording. 

" Before 1 close, I must tell you that many of these poor women 

and cliildren have not a dress to their backs, nor clothing to hide 

their nakedness. From the fact that everything is so high, it is 

impossible for them to clothe themselves; therefore, we ask you to 

lay this distressed state of suffering before the friends of humanity, 

and tell them not to be weary in well doing, for in due time they 

shall reap, if they faint not. 

" Yours, truly, 

"T. T. INSLEY." 

The work was carried on at Leavenworth and Fort Scott, through 
the winter of 18G5, with great benefit to the suffering refugees and 
freedmen. Among the agents of the Commission, none was more 
faithful, competent, and devoted to the interests of humanity than 
Mr. Brown. The other agents belonged to the Government, and 
acted in co-operation with him. 

In the spring of 1864, the number of Union refugees arriving at 
Vicksburg, from the interior of Mississippi, in extreme suffering, des- 
titution, and sickness,was so great, that the agent of the "Western 
Sanitary Commission, Mr. N. M. Mann, felt it to be an imperative 
necessity that efforts should be made for their relief. The co-oper- 
ation of the military authorities was solicited by him, and with 
the aid of the Commission, a refugee home was opened at that 
post, which was maintained in successful operation to the end of 



103 

the war. Au outfit of furniture, beddiug, kitclieu utensils, «&c., was 
sent from the Commission, a matron was provided, and a school 
for the refugee children opened in connection with the Home, a 
teacher being: also sent by the Commission for this service. The 
first teacher sent was Miss G. D. Chapman, of Exeter, Maine, 
whose health foiled after a few months of faithful service, and she 
was obliged to return home. 

In the fall of 1864, the Commission sent Miss Sarah E. M. Love- 
joy, of Princeton, 111., daughter of the late Hon. Owen Lovejoy, 
M. C, to take charge" of this school, and it was soon in success- 
ful operation again. The number of pupils was sufficient to make 
a large school, and the work of educating and elevating the off- 
spring of these poor peojjle was deemed of the first importance, 
as they must hereafter blend with the higher and better civiliza- 
tion of the free States, or become the vagrants and pests of society. 

The work of the Commission, for refugees and freedmen, at 
Vicksburg, continued to the end of the war. A portion of the 
furniture and supplies of the Soldiers' Home was turned over for 
their benefit, and for the use of the asylums established for their 
children. An outfit of one hundred beds, aud other articles, 
was given to the Freedmen's Orphans' Home, the care of Avhich 
was assumed by the ISTational Freedmen's Eelief Commission, of 
New York. A notice of the efficiency and worth of its agents, at this 
post, is given, under the head of the Soldiers' Home. It also 
found in Messrs. William L. Marsh and H. R. Foster, agents 
of the National Freedmen's Relief Commission, most efficient and 
worthy co-operative agents at Vicksburg and Natchez, men of high 
moral and religious principle, and thoroughly devoted to the work 
of aiding and elevating the freedmen. 

At Helena, Ark., there was a large number of destitute Union 
refugees, during the last two years of the war, and important aid 
was given to them, through the agents of the Commission and the 



^>w 



104 



humane labors of Brigadier General Bufokd and his lady, who, for 
many months, received and distributed large quantities of clotliing, 
sent them by the Westei'n Sanitary Commission, and by friends in 
New England. The Commission also provided a Refugee Home at 
this post, in charge of Mrs. Sarah Coombs, a benevolent lady of 
Helena, and much good has been accomplished through her labors. 
It continued to send clothing and sanitary stores, for the needy, to 
Mrs. Coombs, till the summer of I860 ; it sent an agent, Mr. "Wm. F. 
Allen, to assist the freedmen ; and in August, 1865, it received eighty 
freedmen's orphans from Helena, and placed them in its Freedmen's 
Orphans' Home, at St. Louis. 

At Nashville, Tenn., large numbers of Union refugees were con- 
gregated, during the last two years of the war, and on application 
of Mrs. Mary E. Fogg, of tlie Refugee Relief Society, the Commis- 
sion forwarded a generous supply of clothing, for distribution there, 
in August and September, 1864. 

The following acknowledgment of this donation was received by 
the agent of the Commission at Nashville : 

"Nashville, Tenn., June 22, 18C4. , 
"Mr. A. Clark, 

" Agent Western Sanitary Commission, 

"Dear Sir: The following resolution was passed at a meeting of 
the Nashville Refugee Aid Society, held to-day : 

" Hesolved, That the thanks of the Nashville Refugee Aid Society 

be tendered to the Western Sanitary Commission, for its generous 

donation of clothing, for the use of the unfortunate and destitute 

in our midst. 

"JOHN M. GANT, 

" Secretary." 

During the month of May, 1864, an application was made by Rev. 
Henry Douglas, of Chattanooga, recommended by Major General 



■— 1 



105 

W. T. Sherman, commanding the western division of the United 
States Army, for aid to the refugees and destitute people of that 
locality, and a donation of over two hundred barrels of flour, beef 
and potatoes, was forwarded, through the agent of the Commission 
at that post. 

At Little Rock, Ark., great numbei's of refugees congregated, 
di'iven from the rebellious portions of the State. Dui'ing the sum- 
mer of 1864, an urgent appeal came from the Arkansas Relief 
Committee, of Little Rock, and from the Governor of that State, 
for assistance to the destitute inhabitants and refugees. 

In a report of the above committee to Governor Murphy, August 
2d, they say : 

" The refugees now here are from the several counties of the State 
most devastated by a guerrilla warfai'e. We have heard of hun- 
dreds of starving families in the country, whom the committee are 
unable to reach, most of whom have been made thus desolate and 
destitute by the savage butchery of their natural protectors, for 
which they have no redress. A fearful responsibility rests some- 
where, either upon those who initiated the war which has produced 
the present state of suffering, or those who, having the means of alle- 
viating their distressed condition in the future, do it not. These 
walking skeletons, now fleeing from starvation and death, are not 
responsible for their fall from a good estate. Unless provision is 
made, speedily, to strengthen the hand of charity, it is to be feared 
that a fall and winter famine will so much depopulate your State, 
that little, besides a bare territory, will be left to govern. 

"After careful inquiry and investigation, we find that nearly, if 
not all, the suffering and destitution is occasioned by, or is the 
result of, their being what is called 'Union families,' or families 
of Union men. Yery many of the families receiving aid are the 
wives and children of soldiers now engaged in the Union service, 



106 

many of them natives of the soil, and otliers wlio liave long been 
amongst our best adopted citizens." 

The following letter of the Governor of the State to the Presi- 
dent of the Commission, shows still further the tcnible destitution 
that existed in this afflicted State : 

"Executive Office, Little Eock, Ark., August 22, 1864. 

"James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

"Dear Sir: Enclosed, I send you the report of the refugee com- 
mittee. It gives a very imperfect conception of the extent of tlie 
destitution and suffering pervading the entire State. Since Steele's 
retreat, the army has occupied a few posts; but all, beyond the 
pickets, has been held at will by the rebels, and their conscription 
has swept the country, up to the picket lines, accompanied by the 
murder and pillage of all the loyal element outside of the pickets. 
Families, stripped of everything, have fled to the military posts, 
and to other States, for protection. Nothing, scarcely, has been 
raised for food, in the State. Unless those portions of our country 
which God has blessed with peace and security come at once to 
our aid, Ai'kausas will be a wilderness. May we not appeal to our 
brethren of other States to come to our aid, and save us from 
destruction ? 

" "With great respect, your friend, 

" ISAAC MURPHY." 

The Commission sent large and liberal supplies of clothing, sani- 
tary stoi-es, vegetables, medicines for the sick, &c., both for refu- 
gees and freedmen, to this post, till the close of the war.* Up to 
November, 1864, the Commission had expended, in cash, for these 

* See letter of Mr. Yeatman, further on, concerning the refugees at this post, at 
Dnvall's Bluff, and at Memphis, and his account of the relief given at the time of his 
Tisit, May, 1865. 



107 

poor people, $26,400, in the purchase of supplies for them, and 
$10,000 in clothing- and matei'ial for clothing, outfit for Eefugee 
Homes, &c. These expenditures were made at St. Louis, Leaven- 
worth, Fort Scott, Springfield, Eolla, Pilot Knob, Cape Girardeau, 
Helena, Vicksburg, Natchez, Duvall's Blufi", Pine Bluff, and Little 
Rock. 

Besides the above amount, the issue of the charity ration of the 
Government, in St. Louis, was made through the Commission, and 
from September 1st, 1863, to November 1st, 1864, about fifteen thou- 
sand rations were issued, valued at $3,000. Tliis does not include 
the issues of the Government rations at other points besides St. 
Louis. 

The foregoing statistics and facts, were mostly of the date of No- 
vember 1st, 1864. From that time until the end of the war, in May, 
1865, families of refugees continued to arrive fi-om all parts of the 
South, as far as Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, in their usually 
helpless and miserable condition, coming up the river on Govern- 
ment boats, or from the interior by railroad, as objects of charity. 

The accommodations at Benton Barracks being unsuited to their 
condition, the Western Sanitary Commission addressed a communi- 
cation to the military authorities on the subject, in November, 1864, 
and the building, formerly known as the Lawson Hospital, on Broad- 
way, fitted up for this purpose by the Government, being empty, 
was secured for a Eefugee and Freedmen's Home, and made capable 
of receiving six hundred persons. It was entirely furnished by the 
Commission, and placed under the superintendence of the Secretary, 
Eev. J. G. FoRMAN, who, as a Chaplain, was also assigned to the 
same duties by the department commander. 

The Ladies' Union Aid Society, and Ladies' Freedmen's Eelief 
Association, also gave their co-operation in the management of the 
institution. Mrs. H. M. Weed was appointed Matron ; and Miss Jones 
and Miss Catharine Dunning, for a time, were in charge of the 



108 

Freedmen's department of the Home. IVIiss Kichakdson was after- 
wards Assistant Matron. Mss Samantha Monroe, Miss Peduzzi, 
and Miss Esther Orton fulfilled the duties of teachers to the white 
and colored refugee schools in the building; Mrs. Mary A. Whit- 
taker kept the registry of the Home ; detached soldiers took 
charge of the commissar)^ dex^artment of the building, and filled 
the stations of steward, guards, watchmen, &c. The Hospital de- 
partment of the Home was in charge of surgeons, employed for 
the purpose by the Medical Director, and was frequently visited 
by Surgeon Wu. Carpenter, U. S. V,, Medical Director of the 
district. 

For nearly six months, from February 1st, 1865, to July 10th, 
1865, this institution gave shelter, food, medical care, clothing, and 
instruction to several thousand refugees, freed people, and their chil- 
dren, commencing with six hundred, continuing so for the greater 
part of the winter, and gradually diminishing" to three hundred, 
by the next July, with hospital treatment to two hundred sick 
refugees and freedmen at one time. The whole number taken 
into the Home and discharged, or furnished with transportation, 
either to the free States or to their homes in the South, was not 
less than three thousand. On the 10th of July, 1865, between two 
and three hundred, remaining, either sick or helpless, were admitted, 
by the city authorities and the County Court, to the City Hospital 
and the Poor Farm, and the institution was closed. One of the great 
benefits of this Refugee and Freedmen's Home consisted in its being 
a school, where all the refugee women and freedwomen who were in 
health were required to do housework, cooking, and laundry work; 
were paid moderate wages, with which to clothe themselves and chil- 
dren ; and taught some of the first lessons of a better civilization. To 
Major General G. M. Dodge and Brigadier General "Wm. Myers, the 
Commander and Chief Quartermaster of the Department of INEssouri, 



109 

at that time, the Commission is greatly indebted for humane assist- 
ance and co-operation. 

The expense of the AYestern Sanitary Commission, towards the 
support of this institution, was $1,000 per month, besides the outlay 
of furnishing. Eations and fuel were drawn from the Government 
by the Superintendent. The institution performed a needed good to 
the poor refugees and their children, and to many colored women 
and their children, who had been set free with too large an incum- 
brance to support themselves, or who were sick and unable to pro- 
vide themselves a home. The number of white refugees was 
about double that of the blacks, and they occupied distinct portions 
of the building. Besides the instruction given in housework and 
sewing, and in improved habits of cleanliness, Sunday worship and the 
Sabbath School were also attended, on every Sabbath, and the influ- 
ence of the institution was elevating and civilizing upon its inmates. 

In the management of the internal affairs of the Home, the 
furnishing of material for clotliing, and the making of it into 
garments to supply the destitute inmates, most valuable aid was 
rendered by Mrs. Alfred Clapp, President of the Ladies" Union 
Aid Society, and a committee of ladies of the same society (of 
whom Mrs. Joseph Crawshaw was specially devoted to this 
work), and by Mrs. Lucien Eaton, the President of the Ladies' 
Freedmen Association, Mrs. I^. Stevens, and other ladies of this 
society, who, in conjunction with Mr. Yeatman and Mr. Forman, 
the Superintendent of Eefugees and Freedmen for St. Louis, devised 
the plan of the institution. 

A portion of the time the Superintendent was assisted in his 
duties by Lieutenant Charles E. Moss, of the 31st Missouri In- 
fantry, and by his faithful clerk, the venerable Henry C. Weath- 
ERBT, of the 30th Iowa Infantry, who, with all the other employees 
of the institution, performed their duties faithfully and well, 
and to the full satisfaction of the Commission and the military 



110 

commander. The following- letter of Mr. Yeatman to T. G. Odiorne, 
Esq., of Cincinnati, Ohio, gives some additional particulars of the 
work done by the Commission for refugees : 

"EooMS Western Sanitary Commission, 
"St. Louis, May 25, 1865. 
" T. G. Odiokne, Esq., 

" Cincinnati : 

"Dear Sir: Since my return from a trip up the Arkansas, I 
have been so constantly occupied that I have not been able to com- 
municate with you as I intended, and can do little more than write 
a line now. At Memphis I found that Mr. Robb had left, and would 
not again return. I visited the refugee's camp, and found great 
destitution and suffering among them. I took with me Mr. O. E. 
"Waters, Superintendent of the Soldiers' Home, and directed 
him to do what he could towards improving- the condition of 
the sick, and have furnished supplies for that purpose. There 
were over 800 refugees at this point. At Cairo, there are about 
150 ; at Columbus, about 80 ; at Little Rock, there are some 
1,500 or 1,600. They have a Refugee Relief Society, which has $1,000 
per month turned over to it, with which it employs a physician, 
and purchases food, the Government not supplying any. There were 
many sick, and in want of vegetable diet, and I ordered 10 bar- 
rels of potatoes, 2 barrels kraut and pickles, with soda crackers, 
zwiebeck, farina, dried fruit, blackberry cordial, &c., with tea and 
sugar for the sick. This is furnished each week. Thej^ need cloth- 
ing. At Duvall's Bluff there are about 1,100 in the same condition, 
who are supplied by a post fund. I also ordered a similar supply 
of vegetables, &c., per week, and have shipped clothing, mat- 
tresses, tin-cups, plates, &c., which will add to their comfort. 
I directed that all the orphans at Little Rock and Duvall's Blufi 
should be sent here, as we had provision made for them. Ten 



Ill 

arrived to-day from the first-uamed place, and we cared for some six 
more sent from Vicksbui-g. The number of refugees at Vicksburg 
is small. Our school and Home were closed while I was there. 
At Fort Smith there are over 1,500. AVe have done nothing more 
than send a supph'^ of clothing to them as yet. 

* * sfc :f: :{: * 3fc 

" Most truly, yours, 

''JAMES E. YEATMAN." 

During the winter of 1865, Congress passed the act creating a 
Refugee and Freedmen's JSTatioual Bureau. The position of Com- 
missioner of this Bureau was tendered to Mr. Yeatman, by the 
late President Lincoln, through the Secretary of War, but declined. 
Major General O. O. Howard was afterwards appointed, and in 
answer to his request for information from all associations and indi- 
viduals, who had been in any way engaged in aiding the refugees 
and freedmen, Mr. Yeatman addressed him a communication, giving 
many facts of interest to the Bureau, concerning these people in 
the Valley of the Mississippi. In this letter, after referring to his 
published report of a visit to the freedmen, which extended from 
St. Louis, as far as Natchez, in November, 1863, with Mr. W. P. 
Mellen, the supervising agent of the Treasury Department for the 
western district (some account of wliich is given in the rejoort of 
the Commission, May 1st, 1864, page 115), he says : 

"The cause of education has advanced most rapidly among the 
freedmen. ' The schoolmaster is abroad,' and hundreds of good men 
and women have been sent out by the charitable and religious 
societies of the North, whose sympathies are almost exclusively 
with the coloi-ed people, because of the life-long oppression they 
have endured. But few schools, as yet, have been established for 
the white i-efugees, and apparently but little interest has been ex- 
cited in their behalf. This Commission, in order to aid Govern- 
ment and lighten the bni'dens imposed on our militaiy commanders. 



112 

especially iu this militarj'^ district, lias rendered some assistance to 
the white refugees. This class of people, we find, are inferior, in 
many respects, to the recently emancipated negroes. They have all 
the false pride and arrogance engendered hy the institutions of the 
South, without having been taught to labor, considering that it is 
degrading to work, because ' niggers work.' They are ignorant, 
and have all the vices of ignorance. One cannot tell which to 
admire most, the wisdom and goodness of God in emancipating the 
poor negro from bondage, or in breaking the bonds which have 
borne so hard npon these poor, degraded whites, called by the very 
negroes the 'white trash' of the South. 

'' We have, in this city, provided for taking care of all the ref- 
ugee orphans that are sent to us, besides establishing a large Home 
for refugees, with their families, where they are taught to work, and 
prepared for new employments, by which they can support them- 
selves. As rapidly as they are prepared, they are sent out. All 
who work in the institution are paid, and are thus enabled to 
purchase their own clothing, and thereby taught to be self-supporting. 

" The Commission, besides taking care of the refugees in this city, 
has sustained Eefugee Homes at Vicksburg, Natchez, and Helena. 
It has teachers employed at Vicksburg, St. Louis, aud Eolla. It 
has furnished clothing, books, medicines, vegetables, articles of 
special diet for the sick, garden seeds, garden implements, farming 
utensils, and teachers, to every point from which application has 
been made for them, or where we have known they were in want. 
In most cases it has used the Government agents and superintend- 
ents, appointed by the military, for the distribution of such supplies 
as were asked for. Of course, our supply must necessarily be 
limited to the really destitute. The points embraced in our work 
for this class have been : Natchez, Vicksburg, Helena, Little Rock, 
Duvall's Bluff, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Ironton, Cape Girardeau, 
KoUa, and Springfield, Missouri. 



'' In a receut visit made to Arkansas, I found at Little Rock 
about 1,400 white refugees, mostly in camps (log huts) formerly 
occupied by our troops. They are guarded bj^ soldiers. The citizens' 
trade-stores, &c., are taxed $1,000, which is turned over to a relief 
committee, for the support of these people. Finding them greatly 
in need of vegetables, the Commission dii'ected that 10 barrels of 
potatoes, 4 barrels kraut, 2 barrels pickles, with articles of special 
diet for the sick, be furnished to them weekly. Twenty miles 
below Little Rock a Refugee Home has been started, where 300 are 
provided for. At Duvall's Bluff I found 976, similarly situated to 
those at Little Rock. They are suffering for want of a vegetable 
diet. I directed our agent to supply them, weekly, the same as at 
Little Rock, in proportion to their numbers, and gave beds and 
bedding for a hospital for them. 

" At Memphis, I found about eight hundred refugees, who were 
in a destitute and suffering condition. As our labors have been 
more particularly confined to points west of the Mississippi, Ave had 
left Memi)his to the care of other associations, but finding them in 
great need of special diet for their sick, I directed our agents, Mr. 
Waters and Mrs. Starr, to visit them, and render such assistance 
as was necessary. Colonel Eaton has assumed the care of the 
refugees at Memphis and Vicksburg. Large numbers of refugees 
have been sent to Cairo, in Illinois, and from there distributed 
throughout the Northwest. Nashville and Clarksville, Tenn., have 
received vast numbers of refugees from Alabama, Georgia, and 
North Carolina. These have been sent to Louisville and Cincin- 
nati, but there are still a large number retained at the first named 
places. 

" There are colored orphan asylums established at several jDoints, 
one at Memphis, under Mrs. Colonel Canby — a well conducted insti- 
tution and one at Helena, — the Society of Friends in Indiana. 



114 

'•In my recent vi.sit to Vicksbnry, I offered, in behalf of our Com- 
mission, to furnish a complete outfit of 100 beds for a colored orphan 
asylum. It will be conducted under the auspices of the National 
Freedmen's Aid Society. 

"Our Commission has just pui'chased a valuable property in tliis 
city, for an asylum for colored orphans, by which it can aid in the 
care of the children of colored women, when they have more than 
they can support. Persons are unwilling to employ women who 
have more than one or two children. With the aid we give, in 
finding homes for their children as they become old enougli to 
woi-k, we hope to render them important aid in enabling them to 
support themselves. 

"The disposition of colored people is to congregate in cities, 
towns, or communities of their own. This should be discouraged, 
as far as possible. As the great mass of the freed people have 
been tillers of the soil, trained to labor in the field, it is important 
that they should be encouraged to continue where they are, under 
wise and judicious regulations, guaranteeing them protection, and fair 
compensation for their labor. They should be taught that freedom is 
not license to live a life of idleness, but libertj^ to work for them- 
selves instead of a master. They should be encouraged, by pointing 
out to them that they have now only to support themselves, instead 
of having to support both themselves and their masters, as hereto- 
fore. Portions of abandoned and confiscated land should be leased 
or sold to all who desire to cultivate the soil for themselves, say 
in parcels of from twenty to one hundred aci-es and upwards, not 
mere garden patches, such as many of these people have, but a suffi- 
ciency to afford full employment to them, and to form permanent 
homes for themselves. I have found them, as a class, thrifty, and 
willing to work, and with only a half chance they will do well. 

" In regard to the white refugees, they will, I fear, for a time, 
have to be considered and treated as paupers. iJiTo one will employ 



115 

them, they being both indisposed, and not knowing how, to work. 
The great mass of those now in the camps are women and chil- 
dren, or infirm old men. Many have homes on small tracts of 
land in the interior, which have been desolated. If they return 
to them, it would be simply to starve to death, unless the Govern- 
ment would grant some aid. I would suggest that captured horses 
and wagons, or condemned ones, Avith a few jilows and hoes, should 
be turned over by the Government for the use of these people ; 
also, old and condemned clothing, especially hospital clothing, which 
can be worked up for women and children; also, hospital furniture, 
cooking utensils, table-ware, &c.,- with three, four, five, or six 
months' rations of meal, flour, and bacon ; and then that these 
people should be required to return to their homes, at least all such 
as have not made new homes for themselves, and are able to main- 
tain themselves in them. 

" My communication is longer than I intended, but as brief as I 
could well make it. Hoping it will be of some service to you, and 
the Government, and to the people in whose behalf I am so deeply 

interested, 

"I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" JAMES E. YE ATM AN, 

^''President Western Sanitary Commission. 

"Ma.tor General O. O.' How^ard, 

" Commissio7ier of Bureau of Refugees and Freedmen." 

In the spring of 1865, Brigadier General J. W. Sprague, Assist- 
ant Commissioner of refugees and freedmeu for Missouri and 
Arkansas, entered upon his duties at St. Louis. The Commission, 
both by its President and Secretary, — the latter, as Chaplain, being 
assigned to the Bureau, — rendered to him all possible aid and co- 
operation in his work. In October, 1865, he removed his headquar- 
ters to Little Rock, and the work in Missouri was gradually brought 
to a close. 



Ill) 

On the 10th of August, 1865, a couinuinicatiou was addressed to 
Major General O. O. Hoavard, at Washington, by the Secretary of 
the Commission, in reply to a circular calling for information, in 
which the following fiicts, and statements of receipts and expendi- 
tures for refugees and freedmen, are given : 

" Rooms of the Western Sanitary Commission, 
"St. Louis, Mo., August 10, 1865. 

"Major General 0.0. Howard, 

" Commissioner of the National Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, 

'^and Abandoned Lands, 

"General : In reply to yoi\r circular of the 25th iilt., I have the 
honor to transmit the following report : 

" As the questions contained in j'our letter contemplate only 
the work done for refugees and freedmen, the following answers 
will relate only to that part of the work of this Commission, which 
has been performed incidentally, as a much needed charity, grow- 
ing out of the war, and from the dictates of humanity, — being less 
than a hundredth part of its work for the army, wliich has inclu- 
ded colored soldiers, as well as white troops. 

CASH RECEIPTS FOR REFUGEES AND FREEDMEN. 

1861-2 Received, in response to call on St. Louis for loyal 
refugees $18,800.00 

1864 Received, from refugee and freedmen's department 

of Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair 16,720.10 

1864-5 Received, in special donations for refugees and 

freedmen 21,656.90 

Total $57,177.00 

CASH EXPENDITURES FOR REFUGEES AND FREEDMEN. 

1861-2 Cash expended by John S. Cavender, Esq., for loyal refugees 
in St. Louis, under the direction of this Com- 
mission $18,800.00 



117 

1863-4-5 Cash foi" supplies to freedmeu in camps, hospit- 
als, &c ] 9,9-47.00 

1863-4-5 Cash for supplies to refugees in camps, hospitals 
and refugee homes, for payment of employees, 

agents, &c 16,750.30 

1863-4-5 Cash for education of freedmcn 3,909.35 

1863-4-5 Cash for education of refugees 2,097.00 

1865 Cash for purchase of Freedmen's Orphans' Home 

in St. Louis 7,000.00 

1865 Cash appropriated for supporting the same 4,000.00 

Total $72,503.65 



''The surplus of expenditures for refugees and freedmeu, over the 
receipts, is $15,326.65, which amount, from the general fund of the 
Conmiission, is coA^ered by other donations left to its option as to 
the manner of expenditure, and by interest money from funds, tem- 
porarily invested by the Treasurer until needed. 

RECEIPTS OF SUPPLIES FOR REFUGEES AND FREEDMEN. 

''In the same period there has been received by this Commission, 
for refugees and freedmen, 148 boxes and 30 barrels of clothing and 
material. Of these contributions, a valuable portion was of new 
material for clothing from Boston, and was largely distributed to 
freedmen, in camps along the Mississippi river, above and below 
Vicksburg, in Louisiana and Mississippi, during the winter of 1864. 

" The value of these contributions from Boston (a portion of which 
was collected from neighboring towns and cities), was neai-ly 
$40,000.00. Other contributions consisted of second-hand clothing. 
The estimated value of the whole is $50,000.00. 

EXPENDITURE OF SUPPLIES FOR REFUGEES AND FREEDMEN. 

"The above contributions were all distributed by the Commission 
according to the designs of the donors, and large additions of hos- 
pital and sanitary stores were made from the general supplies to 
refugees and freedmen, at Leavenworth and Fort Scott, Kansas, at 



118 

St. Louis and Bentou Barracks, Springfield, Rolla, Pilot Knob, 
and Cape Girardeau, Mo., at Memphis, Nashville, and Chattanooga, 
Tenn., at Helena, Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Duvall's Bhiff, Fort 
Smith and Fayetteville, Ark., at Islands No. 10, No. 60, and Presi- 
dent's Island, Mississippi river, at Columbus, Ky., at Vicksburg and 
Natchez, Miss., at Goodrich's Landing, La., and at several other 
points of less importance. The estimated value of the supplies dis- 
tributed to refugees and freedmen, besides the cash expenditures, 
is $65,000.00, which, added to the latter, makes a total of $137,573.65. 

DISTRIBUTIONS TO FREEDMEN AND REFUCtEE ORPH.VN HOMES. 

"Besides the foregoing distributions, this Commission has turned 
over a large portion of the outfit of the Soldiers' Home, at Vicks- 
burg, sufficient for one hundred beds, for a Freedmen's Orphans' 
Home in that city, taken chai-ge of by the National Freedmen's 
Aid Commission, of New York. It has also established a Freed- 
men's Orphans' Home in St. Louis, having purchased a suitable 
propert}^ for the purpose, on Twelfth street, between Cass avenue 
and O'Fallon street ; fitted it up with furniture, bedding, and 
housekeeping articles ; proAaded a Matron, and opened the insti- 
tution with twenty-four orphans. Eighty colored orphans were 
afterwards brought from Helena, — making over one hundred. It is 
also intended, in this home, to take cai-e of the children of frecd- 
women who have no resource but to hire out to labor and service to 
support themselves. 

"The Commission has also rendered important aid in the establish- 
ment of a Refugee and Orphans' Home at Springfield, Mo., con- 
ducted under the auspices of a philanthropic lady of that town, Hon. 
Mrs. J. S. Phelps, to whom it has sent an excellent lady, Mrs. Mary 
A. Whittaker, as a teacher for the refugee children, and appropri- 
ated $1,000 to carry on the Home. 

" A request has also been received by this Commission from the 



119 

Western Freedmen's Aid Society, of Cinciiuiati, Ohio, asking it lo 
turu over the material of the Soldiers' Home at Mempliis, Teiiu., 
towards the establishment of freedmen's orphans' homes at Legrange, 
Tenn. ; at President's Island, near Memphis, Tenn. ; and at Davis' 
Bend, Miss., at which latter place it is represented there are live 
hundred colored orphans. This transfer has been ordered by the 
Commission, and since carried into effect by the Superintendent 
of the Home, Mr. O. E. Waters, who, with the Matron, Mrs. 
Lucy E. Starr, on the closing of the Soldiers' Home, went 
into the service of the Freedmen's Aid Commission, in its work of 
humanity, at Memphis, 

SCHOOLS FOR REFUGEES AND FREED PEOPLE. 

"The number of schools for refugees and freed people, established 
and sustained by this Commission, has been nine, and the num- 
ber of teachers sixteen, — all of them women. No men nor colored 
female teachers have been employed, because none that were com- 
petent have offered their service or been known to the Commission. 

r 

"The avei'age attendance in these schools has vai'ied at different 
periods and places, fi"om thirty to two hundred. Considering the 
changes of scholars passing through them, the number of children 
who have received instruction in these nine schools has not been 
less than 3,500. The Commission has also furnished 10,000 school 
books, spelling books, readers, geographies, arithmetics, and slates 
to schools for the children of refugees and freedmen, and to regi- 
ments of colored soldiers. 

" The Commission has nearly closed its labors, and will not be able 
to put any more teachers in the field. It has left this great moral 
enterprise, of sui)plying teachers and schools for the freed people of 
the South, chiefly to the Freedmen's Relief Associations and religious 
societies engaged in this work, and has considered its own more 
appropriate labor, for these people, to be the relief of their phys- 
ical wants, — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and assisting 



120 

the destitute to obtain employment, or to reach tlieir homes 
when it has seemed best for them to return. "What has been done 
to furnish teachers and schools and school-books for their children 
has been incidental to its other work, and where no other associa- 
tion seemed to meet the necessity. Trusting that its labors have 
been useful, even in this field, this report of a single branch of its 
operations is respectfully submitted. 

" I have the honor to be, 

'^Your obedient servant, 

"J. G. FORMAN, 

'■'■Secretary Western Sanitary Commissioyi." 

The following is a statement of the number and kind of articles 

issued by the "Western Sanitary Commission to refugees and freed- 

men, from the date of its organization, September 5th, 1861, to the 

close of its labors with the year 1865 : 

21,033 blankets and comforts. 
1,450 bed sacks and mattresses. 

500 sheets. 
3,400 pillows and pillow-ticks. 

800 pillow-slips. 

400 bedsteads. 
1,586 towels and napkins. 
1,000 handkerchiefs. 

3,127 hospital, Canton flannel, and wool shirts. 
2,680 hospital, Canton flannel, and wool drawers. 

100 hospital gowns. 
3,216 wool socks. 
1,237 carpet and leatlier slippers. 
3,811 boots and shoes. 
2,000 hats and caps. 
1,926 spools thread. 

50 pounds black patent thread. 
1,740 gross buttons. 
1,549 pin cushions and work bags. 

800 bandages. 
1,100 pounds rags and lint. 

150 oil silk and cotton pads. 



121 



175 crntclies and canes. 
40 back rests. 
25 close stools. 
2,000 tin cups and cups and saucers. 
1,040 white ware and tin plates. 

150 coffee pots. 
1,900 basins and tin pans. 

430 tin and wooden buckets. 
2,862 chairs and stools. 

75 eye-shades and arm-slings. 

800 slates. 
45,000 school and reading books. 
2,500 tracts and magazines. 
2,000 quires writing paper. 
1,480 packages envelopes. 

300 coal oil lamps. 
1,500 lamp chimneys. 

417 dozen lamp wicks. 
7,400 papers garden seeds. 
6,667 coats and jackets. 
8,487 paii'S pantaloons. 
1,900 coarse and fine combs. 

200 palm leaf fans. 
2,040 knives and forks. 

125 wash boards. 

240 pairs scissors. 

150 bottles extracts. 
1,240 bottles medicine and syrup. 

890 pounds drugs and medicines. 

860 bottles whisky and brandy. 
1,485 bottles blackberry coi'dial and brandy 

625 bottles wines. 
40 pounds citric acid, 
1,500 pounds dried fruit. 

974 pounds dried beef and ham. 

745 pounds tea. 

978 pounds coffee. 
1,800 pounds sugar. 
174,901 pounds flour, corn, and oat meal. 
1,980 pounds farina and corn starch. 

165 pounds cocoa, chocolate, &c. 
3,637 pounds crackers. 

981 pounds toast. 

750 loaves bread. 



122 



1,971 pounds butter. 
150 jjounds cheese. 

70 bottles catsup aud pepper sauce. 
1,840 pounds soap. 

85 pounds hops. 
175 gallons kraut. 
890 cans tomatoes, peaches, &c. 
190 cans jelly and jam. 
165 cans condensed milk. 
250 gallons pickles. 
195 bushels potatoes. 

75 bushels onions. 
110 dozens eggs, 
996 gallons coal oil. 

97 cans oysters and tripe. 
170 cans assorted meats. 

60 cans corned beef and cabbage sauce. 

74 bottles bitters. 
130 bottles wine and coi'dial. 

35 cans extract beef. 

65 cans soup. 
780 gallons molasses. 
500 pounds lard. 

25 pounds cream tartar. 
1,400 shawls and gowns. 
8,800 cwt. hay and straw. 

84 pounds yeast powders. 
460 pounds carbonate soda. 
240 brooms. 
296 pounds carbonate of lime. 

80 pairs suspenders. 
1,937 dresses. 

7,828 pieces underclothing. 
140 mosquito bars. 
250 papers pins aud needles. 
37,750 yards material for dresses, &c. 
3,480 miscellaneous articles. 
460 pounds salt. 

11 air beds. 

42 stoves. 
200 dozens spoons. 

17 coffee mills. 

"8 clocks. 

48 scrub brushes. 



123 

22 kettles. 
100 looking glasses. 

94 ash pans. 
120 coal hods. 
250 shovels and pokers. 
480 garden tools. 
"205,000 feet lumber. 

80 coi'ds wood. 

"Whole number of articles to refugees and freedmen, 433,764. 

The labors of the "Western Sanitary Commission for freedmen 
commenced at Helena, Arkansas, in the winter of 18G2-3, in the 
establishment of a hospital for them, and the sending of an agent 
and supplies to relieve them from sickness, suffering, cold, and 
want. A full account of these labors, and of the joint labors of 
the Commission and the National Freedmen's Eelief Association 
of New York, at Vicksburg and Natchez, and of its own inde- 
pendent labors at other points along the Mississippi river, and of 
the two visits of Mr. Yeatjian to all their camps as far as Natchez, 
the printed report of the first visit, December, 1863, and also of 
the second visit, in February, 1864, with W. P. Mkllen, Esq., of 
the Treasury Department, to organize a system of labor and of 
leasing the abandoned plantations, and an account of clothing and 
supplies forwarded to Messrs. W. L. Marsh, H. K. Foster, N. 
M. Mann, Eev. Mr. Roundtre, Chaplain J. R. Locke, Chaplain 
Jonathan E. Thomas, Chaplain John J. Herrick, and other per- 
sons engaged in this work, are given in the history of the Com- 
mission, chapter X, pages 100-128, already referred to, published at 
the date of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, at St. Louis, in 
May, 1864. 

From the holding of the great Fair of that date the work of the 
Commission for refugees became blended with that for freedmen. An 
account of one is, to some extent, an account of the other, as has 
already appeared in the details of this chapter. Moreover, as the 
National Freedmen's Relief Association at New York, under the 



124 

presidency of Hon. Georoe Fkancis Shaav, and the Westeru Freed- 
raeii's Relief Association of Ciuciuiiati, and the Northwestern Freed- 
inen's Relief Commission of Chicago, and Associations of Friends 
in Indiana and Iowa, had entered largely upon the work in the 
whole Mississippi Valley, sending supplies, relief agents, and teach- 
ers, there came to be less necessity for the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission to expend its labors in this direction, which had never 
been its main object, and which had only been done as a necessary 
incidental work, belonging to the humanities of the war. 

From this time, therefore, while it continued to send supplies 
to all neglected points, and sustained several schools and teachers, 
=ome of them in St. Louis and at Benton Barracks, and rendered aid 
at Natchez, Vicksbui-g, Helena, Memphis, Columbus, Ky., Leaven- 
worth, Fort Scott, Jeflerson City, Rolla, Springfield, Mo., Fayette- 
ville and Fort Smith, Ark., and at some other j)oints ; and while 
it continued to send sanitarj'^ stores to the freedmen's hospitals at 
Natchez, Vicksburg, Memphis, and farming implements and garden 
seeds to many of the localities where the impoverished inhabitants, 
freedmen and returned refugees were endeavoring to sustain them- 
selves by agriculture, it gradually withdrew from this field, leaving 
it to be occupied by the Freedmen's Relief Associations, and so 
became prepared to close this portion of its work also with the 
year 1865. 

The following acknowledgment from the surgeon in charge of 
the Freedmen's Hospital at Vicksburg, dated September 15th, 1865, 
will show how lately the Commission has continued to render aid 
to the freedmen, wherever it has been called for: 

"Freedmen's Hospital, Vicksburg, Miss., September 15, 1865. 
"James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

" President Western Sanitary Commissiojt, St. Louis, Mo. 
" Dear Sir : I take great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt 



125 

of the articles so geuorously furnished aud forwarded for the use of 
this liospital. I should have done so at a much earlier date, but 
have beeu very busily occupied. I assure you, however, they are 
none the less welcome. The articles were very judiciously selected, 
and have been of great sei'vice to us. May the blessing of Heaven 
rest upon you, and all who are engaged in doing good. I here- 
with enclose a receipt, and in the name and behalf of those to 
whom they were sent, return you, and, through you, the friends 
of our cause, a thousand thanks for this kindness. 
**Very truly yours, 

''CHAS. A. FOSTER, 

" Su?'geon in Charge." 

Among the latest labors of the Commission for the freedmen, already 
referred to in the report of the Secretary to Major General O. O. 
Howard, was the purchase of suitable property for a Freedmen's Or- 
phan's Home, in St. Louis, on Twelfth street, between Cass avenue and 
O'Fallon street, at a cost of $7,000, and the appropi'iation of $4,000 
additional to furnish the Home, and assist in sustaining it the first year. 
This purchase was made last June ; and on the breaking up of the 
Refugee and Freedmen's Home on Broadway, the colored orphan 
children of the institution, numbering 24, were removed to this new 
institution. In August, 80 other colored orjihans were brought from 
Helena, by order of Brigadier General Sprague, and received into 
this Home. 

The management of this Home has been placed in the hands of 
an association of ladies, called the Freedmen's Orphan's Home Asso- 
ciation, of which Mrs. Alfred Clapp is the first directress. An 
advisory committee has also been formed, and meetings of the la- 
dies of the Association, some of whom are intelligent and worthy 
colored women, are held every week, to work for the children, and 
attend to the interests of the Home. The Matron of the Home is 
Mrs. H. M. Weed. 



126 

VVlienever there is in the institution a surplus of children 
of sufficient age, they are indentured, by contract, to persons 
willing to adopt and teach them some useful employment, and 
give them three months' schooling- in the year. The following form 
of indenture or contract has been adopted, and will show the terms 
and conditions upon which the children are placed in new homes: 

AKTICLE OF AGEEEMBNT. 

Freedmen's Orphans' Home, 

Twelfth street, between 0' Fallon street and Cass avenue, 

St. Louis, Mo., , 180 

This indenture witnesseth, that , of the town of , county of 

and State of , of the first part, in consideration of the 

promise of future service, receives into his care , aged 

years, an orphan of colored parents (one or both of whom is de- 
ceased), from the Freedmen's Orphans' Home of St. Louis, into 
whose guai'dianship and care the child has come, through destitu- 
tion ; and that the said party of the first part agrees with the Mati'on 
of the Freedmen's Orphans' Home, of the second part (this agree- 
ment to be approved by the First Directress of the Freedmen's 
Orphan Association), that lie, the said party of the first part, in 
taking charge and custody of the said child, will provide for it, 
in his own home, with sufficient and wholesome food, and com- 
fortable and decent clothing ; that in case of sickness he will pro- 
vide good nursing, medicine, and medical attendance ; that he will 
have the child taught reading, writing, geography, and arithmetic, 
by sending it to school three months in each year, if there be one 
for colored children, or one in which the child can bo received, 
within one mile of his residence, or, if not that, he will have such 
instruction imparted in his own family; that he will keep the child 



127 

till it is fourteen years of age, when it shall be allowed the free- 
dom to choose a guardian, to be approved by the 1st Directress of 
the Freedmen's Orphan Association, or to remain witli the said 
party of the first part, under the following agreement for wages : 
he, the said party of the first part, agreeing that for such period 
as the cliild may remain in his service, and under his care, after 
the age of fourteen years until it reaches the age of eighteen years, 
he will pay the sum of four dollars per month, if the child is a 
girl, or seven dollars per month in case it is a boy, as wages, 
charging- only cost prices for clothing- furnished during- this period, 
and paying up the wages whenever, from any cause, the child may 
cease to remain with the said party of the first part under this 
contract ; or, if the child remains till eighteen years of age, giving 
to him or her, in addition to any wages that may be due, a new 
pocket bible, and a new suit of clothing, of the value in the case 
of a girl, of fifteen dollars, and in the case of a boy, of twenty- 
five dollars ; provided, that in case the child shall be sent to school 
three months in each year, according to this agreement, wages du- 
ring such periods will not be required ; provided, further, that in 
case the child shall, without good cause, leave the home and guar- 
dianship herein pi"0vided, at any time after the payment of wages 
begins, he or she shall forfeit whatever wages may be due, not 
exceeding two months' wages, and that good cause for leaving or 
terminating this contract shall be determined by the decision of the 
1st Directress of the Freedmen's Orphan Association, after a heai-- 
ing or investigation of the case ; provided, also, that the person 
taking the foregoing child shall bring the said child, at the end of 
the first three months, back to the Freedmen's Orphan Home, that 
the parties may be inquired of by the Matron or a Directress of the 
Freedmen's Orphan Association, whether the arrangement is satis- 
factorv, from which time only it will become permanently binding. 



128 



"111 witness whereof, we have hereunto affixed our liaiuls and 
seals the day and year above written. 



'Witness : 

[L.S.] 



[L.S.] 

Approved : 



"lat Directress Freedmen's Orphan's Association." 

This Home has a school in connection with it, in wliicli the 
teacher. Miss Hess, is sustained by the Commission. 

Besides this school, the Commission, during the school year end- 
ing in September, 1865, appropriated $100 per month to aid the 
colored people of St. Louis to sustain schools for their children. 
An excellent high school, in the basement of the church on the 
corner of Locust and Eighth streets, was taught through the same 
year by Miss Anna E. "Wall and Miss Ida M. Eliot, of New 
Bedford, the latter a daughter of the Hon. T. D. Eliot, M. C. 
from Massachusetts. This school, which was for the advanced 
scholai'S of the colored people, numbered from 50 to GO scholars, 
and was equal to the same grade of schools in any city of the 
Union. It was sustained by funds contributed from friends in Mas- 
sachusetts, through Rev. Dr. Eliot, of the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission. 

There are five schools for colored children at the present time, 
taught by colored teachers, and supported by tuition fees. These 
schools contain about 400 i>upils. Although the colored people are 
taxed for the support of the public schools of Saint Louis, there 
has been no provision made as yet for the education of the colored 
children of the city, and they receive none of the benefits of the 



129 

public schools, for which their iiareuts are taxed, beyond au appro- 
priation of $500. There is a jirospect, however, that this reproach 
will be removed during the year. 

The following letter of Mr. Yeatman to D. C. Jaccakd, Esq., 
of St. Louis, acknowledging the receipt of $1,000, from a fund 
raised in Switzerland, by penny contributors, for the benefit of the 
coloi'ed people of America, to be used for the Freedmen's Orphan 
Home, becomes matter of sufla.cient interest to be included in this 
repoi't : 

"Rooms Western Sanitary Commission, 
" St. Louis, July 22d, 1865. 
''Mr. D. C. Jaccard : 

'* Dear Sir: Your note of this date, enclosing check for one 
thousand dollars, is received, being a donation from the funds of 
the Switzerland Penny Society, to be used for the purpose of estab- 
lishing a colored infant and orphan asylum in the city of St. 
Louis. You will please accept our thanks for yourself and those 
you represent in free Switzerland, for thinking of those who have 
so recently been freed from the yoke of slavery in the United 
States, and for so generously contributing to the support of an 
institution, which has for its object the care of colored orphans, 
and the children of those who are unable to maintain them. There 
are quite a large number of this latter class now thrown upon the 
community. "Women who have been slaves, and who have from 
three to ten children, and are unable at once by their labor to 
support and care for them. By relieving them temporarily, the 
mothers can earn a living, and as their children grow older they 
can add their labor to that of their mothers, and thus jointly support 
themselves, and re-unite their families in homes of their own. 

The institution, which you have aided in establishing, has already 
secured and paid for a very desirable property, consisting of a small 



130 

church, which will be used as a school-house, and two dwelling- 
houses adjoining. There is an efficient board of lady managers, at 
the head of which is Mrs. Alfked Clapp. There will be some 
colored persons associated with them in the management, and so 
soon as it can be done, the colored people will have the control 
of it. I am satisfied that you could not have directed these funds 
to a more useful and truly humane institution, or one which is 
more needed at this time. The managers would be most happy 
to liave you visit the institution from time to time, and see its 
ojicrations. It was opened on last Monday, and is now receiving 
the class of children whom it was intended to benefit. Tlie insti- 
tution is located on Twelfth street, near Cass avenue. 

" Thanking you again, and those benevolent Swiss, whose hearts 
and charity can extend across the Atlantic and beyond the Mis- 
sissippi, 

" I remain very respectfully, 

"JAMES E. YEATMA^, 

" President Wcstei^n Sanitary Commission." 

Among the liberal donations received for the freedmen was one 
of $500 from those noble philanthropists of England, Joseph and 
Esther Sturge, forwarded through Mrs. Mapja Weston Chapman, 
of Boston, and another of $500 for refugees, from Joseph F 
Fay, Esq., of Boston. 

Soon after the death of the lamented President of the United 
States, Abraham Lincoln, a very remarkable and spontaneous move- 
ment commenced with a colored woman, named Charlotte Scott, 
at Marietta, Ohio, and was taken up by the colored soldiers,' to 
erect a monument at Washington to the memory of Abraham Lin- 
coln, to be called '' The Fi-eedmen's National Monument." As the 
contributions for this object have been so far placed in the hands 
of the Western Sanitary Commission, it seems proper that an ac- 
count of it should be given here. 



181 

Ou the first of May succeediug the death of the late President, 
Mr. Jabies E. Yeatman, President of the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission, at St. Lonis, received a note from Brigadier General T. C. 
H. Smith, which he had published in the llissouri Democrat, of 
the next day, which, with his communication to the editor, is here 
given : 

" To the Editors of the Democrat : 

" Gentlemen : I enclose you a note, received this evening from 
a gentleman now sojourning in this city, which contains a sugges- 
tion worthy of the consideration of those who have been made 
free by the action of our lamented President. 

"It would be a fitting tribute from the race to the noble and good 
man who has done so much for them. 

" I doubt not that it is only necessary that the suggestion should 
be brought to their notice, in order to secure their prompt and 
efficient action, and bj^ a small contribution from each, a fund 
would soon be raised sufficient to rear a noble structure to com- 
memorate their gratitude and love to the man through whose instru- 
mentality enslaved millions of their race have been made free. 
" Very respectfully, 

"JAMES E. YEATMAN." 

"Wednesday Morning, April 26. 
" My Dear Sir : A poor negro woman, of Marietta, Ohio, one 
of those made free by President Lincoln's proclamation, proposes 
that a monument to their dead friend be erected by the colored 
people of the United States. She has handed to a person in Mari- 
etta five dollars, as her contribution for the purpose. Such a monu- 
ment would have a history more grand and touching than any of 
which we have account. Would it not be well to take up this 
sv ggestion, and make it known to the freedmen ? 

" Yours truly, 

"T. C. H. SMITH. 
"Jas. E. Yeatman, Esq." 



132 

The name of the "poor negro woman" of Marietta, Ohio, is 
Charlotte Scott, formerly the slave of Dr. ^¥. P. Euckek, who, 
in a letter to Mr. Yeatman, also given below, bears testimony to 
the excellent character of this poor woman, and to the generous 
impulse wliich prompted her to say, on hearing of Mr. Lincoln's 
death, that she would give five dollars of her wages " to build a 
monument to his memory." The following is the letter of Dr. 
RucKER, followed by that of Eev. Mr. Battelle, who forwai'ded 
the contribution : 

"Marietta, Ohio, Jime 29ih, 1865. 
"Mr. James E. Yeatman, 

"President Western Sanitary Commission, St. Louis: 

"My Dear Sir : I have learned, with the greatest satisfaction, 
through Brigadier General T. C. H. Smith, and the public press, 
that you are devoting your noble energies in giving tone and direc- 
tion to the collection and appropriation of a fund for the erection 
of the Freedmen's National Monument, in honor and mcmoiy of 
the benefactor and savior of their race. 

" The General also informs me that you desire, and have requested 
through him that the five dollars deposited with the Rev. C. H. Bat- 
telle, of this city, by Charlotte Scott, should be used as the original 
and foundation subscription iov this most praiseworthy jiurpose ; and 
Mr. Battelle assures me that he will most cheerfully remit it to 
you this day. As a slaveholder by inheritance, and up to a period 
after the outbreak of the rebellion, and as an ardent admirer of our 
lamented President, the author of universal emancipation in America, 
I feel an enthusiastic interest in the success of the Freedmen's 
National Monument. I hope it may stand unequalled and unrivalled 
in grandeur and magnificence. It should be built essentially by f reed- 
men, and should be emphatically national. Every dollar should 



133 

come from the former slaves ; every State should furuish a stone, aud 
the monument should be erected at the capital of the nation. 
Nothing- could be better calculated to stimulate this down-trodden 
and abused race to renewed efforts for a moral and national status. 
"Charlotte Scott, v/hose photograph General Smith will for- 
ward, was born a slave in Campbell county, Yirginia. She is 
about sixty years old, but is very hale and active. Her reputation 
for industry, intelligence, and moral integrity has always been appre- 
ciated by her friends aud acquaintances, both white and colored. 
She was given, with other slaves, to my wife, by her father, Thomas 
H. Scott. When we received the news of Mr. Lincoln's assassin- 
ation, the morning after its occurrence, she was deeply distressed. 
In a conversation with Mrs. Euckek, she said : " The colored 
2?eople have lost their best friend on earth; 3fr. Lincoln was our 
best friend, and I will give five dollars of my loages towards erect- 
ing a monument to his memory.''^ She asked me who wou.ld be 
the best person to raise money for the purpose ; I suggested Mr. 
Battelle, and she gave him the live dollars. 
" I am, my dear sir, 

"Truly aud respectfully, 

" WM. P. KUCKEE." 

"Marietta, Ohio, Jtme 29, 1865. 
" Mr. J. E. Yeatman, 

" Dear Sir : I was providentially called upon by Charlotte 
Scott, formerly a slave of Dr. AY. P. Eucker, now living in this 
place, to receive the enclosed $5, as the commencement of a fund 
to be applied to rearing a monument to the memory of Hon. 
Abraham Lincoln. 

"I received her offering, and gave notice through the press that 
I would receive other donations, and cheerfully do what I could to 



134 

promote so noble an object. Other persons have signified their 
willingness to give when the measure is fully inaugurated. 

"By the advice of General T. C. H. Sbiith I herewith forward 
you her contribution, and I hoiie to hear from you upon its receipt, 
that I may show to Charlotte and others that the money has gone 
in the right direction. After hearing from you, I hope to be' able 
to stir uj) the other colored folks on this subject. 

" I rejoice, dear sir, that I have some connection with this hon- 
arable movement in its incipiency. I shall not fail to watch its 
progress with thrilling interest, and hope to live until the top-stone 
shall be laid, amid the jubilant rejoicing of emancipated millions 
crying, ' Grace, grace unto it.' 

" A^ery respectfully, yours, 

" C. D. EATTELLE." 

The publication of the note of Mr. Yeatman, and the first com- 
munication received concerning the colored woman's proposed 
offering, brought the following letters and contributions, showing 
how generously the proposition of Charlotte Scott was responded 
to by the colored troops stationed at Natchez, Miss. These con- 
tributions have been duly deposited, for safe keeping, towards the 
Freedmen's National Monument to Mr. Lincoln. 

"Headquarters, 6th U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery, 
"Fort McPherson, Natchez, May 19, 1865. 

"James E. Yeatman, 

^^ President Western Sa?iitary Commission, St. Louis, 

"Deak Sir : I hereby transmit to you, to be appi'opriated to the 
monument to be erected to the late President Lincoln, the sum of 
four thousand two hundred and forty-two dollars, the gift from 
the soldiers and freedmen of this regiment. Allow me to say that 



i;i5 

I feel proud of my regiment for their liberal contribution in honor 
of our lamented chief. Please acknowledge receipt. 
" Very respectfully, 

"Your obedient servant, 

^'JOHN P. COLEMAN, 
^'■Lieutenant Colonel, commanding Qth U. S. Colored Heavy Artillery. 

"Amounts, as donated by their respective companies: Co. A, 
$515; Co. B, $594; Co. C, $5U; Co. D, $464; Co. E, $199; Co. 
F, $409; Co. G, $284; Co. H, $202; Co. I, $423; Co. K, $231; 
Co. L, $142; Co. M, $354. Total, .$4,242." 

"Headquarters, 70th U. S. Colored Infantry, 
" KoDNET, Miss., May 30, 1865. 

"Brevet Major General J. W. Davidson, 

" Commanding District of Natchez, Miss., 

"General : I have the honor to enclose the sum of two thou- 
sand nine hundred and forty-nine dollars and fifty cents ($2,919.50), 
as the amount collected, under your suggestion, for the purpose of 
erecting a monument to the memory of President Lincoln. Every 
dollar of this money has been subscribed by the black enlisted 
men of my regiment, which has only an aggregate of six hundred 
and eighty-three (683) men. Much more might have been raised, 
but I cautioned the ofiicers to check the noble generosity of my 
men, rather than stimulate it. Allow me to add that the soldiers 
expect that the monument is to be built by the black people's 
money exclusively. They feel deeply that the debt of gratitude 
they owe is large, and anything they can do to keep his ' memory 
green,' will be done cheerfully and i)romptly. 

"If there is a monument built proportionate to the veneration 
with wliich the black people hold his memory, then its summit 



136 

will be among the clouds — the first to catch the gleam and herald 
the approach of coming day, even as President Lincoln himself 
first proclaimed the first gleam, as well as glorious light, of uni- 
versal freedom. 

" I am, General, most respectfully, 

" Your obedient servant, 

"^Y. C. EAELES, 
"Colonel 70th U. S. C. Infantry, 
"District of Natchez, May 21, 1865." 



"Hon. James E. Yeatman : 

" Upon seeing j-^our suggestions in the Democrat, I wrote to my 
Colonels of colored troops, and they are responding most nobly to 
the call. Farrar's regiment (6th U. S. Heavy Artillery), sent some 
$4,700, The money here spoken of has been turned over to Ma- 
jor W. C. LuPTON, Paymaster U. S. A., for you. Please acknow- 
ledge receipt through the 3fissouri Democrat. The idea is, that 
this monument shall be raised to Mr. Lincoln's memory, at the 
national capital, exclusively by the race he has set free, 
*' Yery truly, yours, 

"J. W. DAVIDSON, 

" Bi'evet Major General." 



"Head Pay Department, Natchez, Miss., June 15, 1865. 

" James E. Yeatman, Esq., 

"President Western Sanitary Commission, St. Louis, 

" Sir : The colored soldiers of this district. Brevet Major General 
Davidson commanding, feeling the great obligations they are under 
to our late President, Mr, Lincoln, and desiring to perpetuate his 



137 

memory, have contributed to the erection of a monument at the 

national capital, as follows : 

70th U. S. C. Infantry, Colonel W. C. Earle $2,949.50 

Three Companies 63d U. S. C. Infantry,— A, C, and E, 

Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell 263.00 

Freedmen of IS'atchez 312.38 

Total $3,529.85 

''Added to this. Major John P. Coleman, of the 6th U. S. C. 
Heavy Artillery, stationed here, has sent you nearly five thousand 
dollars for the same fund, and the 57th U. S. C. Infantry desire 
me, at the next pay day, to collect one dollar per man, which will 
swell the amount to nearly ten thousand dollars. This is a large 
contribution from not quite seventeen hundred men, and it could 
have been made larger — many of the men donating over half their 
pay, and in some instances the whole of it — but it was thought 
best to limit them. 

" "Will you please publish this, that the colored soldiers, and their 
friends, may know that their money has gone forward, and send me 
a copy of the paper. 

"I am, sir, with regard, 

"W. C. LUPTON, 

" Pat/master U. S. A." 

These noble contributions are a striking evidence of the favor with 
which this movement is regarded by the colored people, and espe- 
cially the brave soldiers of this oppressed i-ace, who have been 
fighting to carry out the proclamation of their benefactor, securing 
them their liberty. 

There are those, perhaps, who may think that some other form 
of testimonial, such as the endowment of some great charity, would 
be better ; but the colored people of the United States, and espe- 
cially the liberated bondmen, wish something tangible and visible 



138 

to the eye of present and future generatious, that will testify of 
their love and gratitude to their gi*eat deliverer. Towards any 
enterprise, such as the founding of schools and colleges for the 
education of the colored people, the whole country would expect 
to contribute ; but it is peculiarly fitting that from this race alone, 
a monument should ascend, at the capital of the nation, showing 
forth, to the whole world of mankind, the appreciation of an eman- 
cipated race for their greatest earthly benefactor. 

This movement has been entrusted to the Western Sanitary Com- 
mission at St. Louis, who, through its President, James E. Yeat- 
MAN, Esq., will take charge of such contributions as may be 
committed to its care for this object, and will see that the wishes 
of the contributors are carried into effect.* 



* Since the above was written, additional amounts have been received for this object, 
making the whole amount received at this date (April 15th, 1866), $16,242.00, now in the 
hands of the Treasurer of the Commission, C. S. Gkeeley. An agent has also been ap- 
l)ointe(l, in the person of J. M. Langston, Esq., an educated colored man of Ohio, and a 
member of the legal profession, to collect additional subscriptions for this monument from 
the colored people of the Southern States. Mr. Langston is recommended by his high 
moral character and excellent abilities, and is pursuing his work with success. 



CHAPTER V. 

DiSTBIliDTIOXS OF SANITARY STOBES — LiST OF ARTICLES — RECEIPTS AND EXPENDI- 
TORES OF THE COMMISSION — LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS OF THE $35,000 DONATION 

FROM Boston, in the Winter of 1863 — List of the Principal Cash Contribu- 
tors OF St. Louis to the Mississippi Valley S.anitary Fair — Conclusion. 



The whole number of articles distributed by the Western Sani- 
tary Commission, since its organization, September 5th, 1861, to 
the close of its labors with the year 1865, is as follows : 

7,972 bed sacks and mattresses. 
40,574 blankets and comforters. 
50,675 sheets. 
36,053 pillows. 
60,880 pillow slips. 

1,140 bedsteads. 
67,771 towels and napkins. 
36,460 handkerchiefs. 

85,502 hospital. Canton flannel, and wool shirts. 
91,662 hospital. Canton flannel, and wool drawers. 

5,584 hospital gowns. 
78,656 wool and cotton socks. 

2,559 neck-ties and wool comforters. 
31,160 carpet and leather slippers. 
1^,430 pairs boots and shoes. 

7,983 hats and caps. 

2,918 spools thread. 
300 pounds black and white patent thread. 

3,740 gross buttons. 
12,806 pin cushions and mending bags. 
114,241 bandages. 
35,918 packages rags and lint. 
620 rolls adhesive plaster. 
280 dozen Melvill's adhesive plaster. 

8,300 sponges. 
10,769 cotton and oil silk pads. 

6,073 crutches and canes. 



140 

1,850 back I'ests. 
1,436 close stools. 
14,852 games. 

290 hospital chests. 
2,008 compresses. 
25,897 mugs, tin cups, anil cups and saucers. 
20,740 white-ware plates, and tin plates. 
1,482 coffee pots. 
8,339 basins and tin i^ans. 
1,050 tiu and wooden buckets. 
3,862 chairs and stools. 
2,662 eye shades and arm slings. 
1,444 slates. 
68,829 school and reading books. 
40,556 tracts and magazines. 
20,868 quires Avriting paper. 
10,458 pkgs. envelopes. 
932 bottles ink. 
90 gross steel pens. 
2,914 dozen pen holders. 

505 coal oil lamps. 
2,433 lamp chimneys. 

917 dozens lamp wicks. 
17,758 pairs gloves and mittens. 
11,500 papers garden seeds. 
19,364 coats and jackets. 
23,487 pairs pantaloons. 

6,218 hair brushes. 
97,912 coarse and fine combs. 
19,507 palm leaf fans. 
5,849 spit cups. 
13,618 knives and forks. 
150 wash boards. 
1,541 pairs scissoi's. 

70 cows. 
1,786 chambers and bed pans. 
13,168 bottles extracts. 
12,973 bottles medicine and cough syrup. 
3,500 pounds drugs and medicines. 
28,702 bottles whisky and brandy. 
173,909 bottles blackberry brandy and cordial. 
18,773 bottles catawba, port, sherry, and domestic wines. 
18,537 gallons ale and beer. 
154,750 pounds ice. 



141 



2,556 pouuds citric acid. 
202,834 pounds apples, peaches, and small dried fruit. 
74,191 pounds dried beef. 
2,260 pounds nutmegs, cinnamon, and other spices. 
4,210 pounds tea. 
2,978 pounds coffee. 
15,800 pounds sugar. 
2,634 pounds sago and tapioca, 
310,901 pounds flour, corn-meal and oat-meal. 
42,776 pounds arrowroot, farina, and corn starch. 
12,680 pounds cocoa, chocolate, and broma. 
281,637 pounds soda and pic-nic crackers. 
29,036 pounds toasted bread or zwiebeck. 
12,586 loaves bread. 
39,271 pounds butter. 
20,517 pouuds cheese. 

28,944 bottles catsup, mustard, and pepper sauce. 
45,807 pounds codfish. 
33,560 pounds mackerel and herring. 
4,840 pounds Castile and washing soap. 
2,641 pounds pressed hops. 
2,573 pounds ground flax seed and elm bark. 
206,159 gallons sauer kraut. 

240,252 cans tomatoes, peaches, and other fruits. 
30,818 iars jell}^ and blackberry jam. 
48,630 cans condensed milk. 
52,919 gallons pickles. 
3,540 jars pickles. 
139,860 bushels potatoes. 
315,057 bushels onions. 
130,090 dozen eggs. 
2,976 gallons coal oil. 
3,270 three-cent postage stamps. 
28,520 cans oysters and spiced tripe. 
26,550 cans chicken, turkey, and other canned meats. 
38,680 cans cranberry and cabbage sauce. 
1,789 cans apple and peach jam, and apple butter. 
45,723 lemons and oranges. 
1,745 heads cabbage. 

10,779 bottles Flora and Catawba bitters. 
3,448 bottles ginger wine and cordial. 
28,485 cans portable lemonade. 
26,305 pounds extract beef. 
2,565 cans beef, vegetable, and chicken soup. 



142 

1,468 gallons molasses. 
2,963 pounds lard. 

12,850 bottles raspbeny vinegar and lemon syrup. 
180 pounds cream tartar. 
1,700 pounds nails. 
2,000 shawls and gowns. 
26,800 cwt. straw and hay. 
190 pounds yeast powders. 
988 jjounds bicarb, soda. 
1,848 corn brooms. 
7,840 pounds smoking tobacco. 
9,682 pounds chewing tobacco. 
2,970 pounds chlor. lime and disinfectant powder. 

540 pounds pearl barley. 
12,000 smoke pipes. 
2,500 pairs suspenders. 
4,957 women's and children's dresses. 
1,834 mosquito bars. 
2,587 papers pins and needles. 
45,752 yards material for dresses, &c. 
90,695 miscellaneous ai'ticles. 
980 cords wood. 
1,060 pounds salt. 
514 air beds. 
78 dozens pencils. 
65 stoves. 

150 ounces quinine. 
12,237 sets tea and table spoons. 
20,500 feet lumber. 
125 coffee mills. 
1,450 splints. 
25 clocks. 
150 scrubbing brushes. 
89 kettles. 
1,585 bottles cologne and bay rum. 

Total, 4,218,922 articles. Estimated value, $3,500,000. 

On the 9th of May, 1864, just previous to the holding of the 
Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, the estimated value of sanitaxy 
stoi'es received and distributed to the army of the "West, and to the navy 
of the Mississippi, up to that date, was one and a quarter million of 
dollars. The amount of money received was $178,940.79, all of which 



143 

had been expended (except a balance of $19,866.76), in sanitary- 
stores for the army aud naval flotilla of the West, and for expen- 
ses of the Commission and its agencies, which amounted to less 
than one and a half per cent, of the value of the distributions. 

The net receipts from the Fair were five hundred and fifty-four 
thousand five hundred and ninety-one dollars ($554,591). 

From the 9th of May, 1864, to the close of the year 1865, the 
cash receipts and expenditures of the Commission were as follows : 

CASH EECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES 

FROM MAT 9, 1864, TO DECEMBER 31, 1865. 

To balance on hand May 9, 1864 $ 19,866.75 

" receipts from Miss. Val. San. Fair 554,591.00 

" contributions received since May 9, 1864 37,467.55 

EXPENDITURES. 

By office and wai'ehouse expenses $524.85 

" telegraph 22.80 

" postage 310.20 

" rents 4,213.00 

" insurance 875.00 

" salaries of Secretary, clerks, and laborers. 7,092.30 

" publication of reports, printing, advertising, 

and stationery 2,630.85 

" agents' salaries, and expenses of distibu- 

tion in the field 11,512.95 

" supplies furnished 345,047.50 

*' expenses of Soldiers' Home at St. Louis 7,663.85 

" " Soldiers' Home at Columbus.. 150.00 

" " Soldiers' Home at Memphis .. . 4,033.05 

" .'* Soldiers' Home at Helena 395.75 

" " Soldiers' Home at Vicksburg.. 4,710.80 

" aid to soldiers and soldiers' families 29,626.95 

" " hospitals and nurses 1,121.85 

" " refugees 17,511.65 

" " freedmen 16,605.50 

" purchase of Freedmen's Orphan Asylum. . 7,000.00 



144 

By faruisliiug' aud expenses Orphau Asylaui.. 4,986.65 
" purchase of Soldiers' Orphans' Home at 

Webster ■ 17,195.00 

<< additional buildings for Home at Webster. 20,000.00 

" appropriation to Ladies' Union Aid Society 50,000.00 

'• balance 59,193.80 



$611,925.30 $611,925.30 
Balance on hand January 1, 1866, $59,193.80. 

The Commission does not deem it proper, even through its Sec- 
retary, to speak of the individual labors of its own members, further 
than to say that its funds have been kept, and its finances managed 
with great care, faithfulness, and good judgment, by its Treasui'er, 
C. S. Greeley, Esq., from whose accounts, as well as from those 
of the book-keeper at the Commission rooms, the foregoing state- 
ments are made. 

For the accuracy of the accounts of the issues and expenditures 
of the Commission, and for the transaction of the business of its 
warerooms and store, its shipping, and many of its purchases, it 
is indebted to the faithful labors of Mr. Joseph McCulloch, its 
worthy cashier and storekeeper, and also to his predecessor, Mr. 
Henry E. Collins. 

The above balance of fifty-nine thousand one hundred and ninety- 
four dollars and sixty-one cents, ascertained from a careful exami- 
nation of the books of the Treasurer and Cashier, is reserved, by 
the Commission, to meet future liabilities and exiienditures for insti- 
tutions already established, and for other useful objects yet to be accom- 
plished, such as the support of the Soldiers' Home at St. Louis — 
still as much needed as ever; the further relief of soldiers' widows 
and orphans; aid promised conditionally to the Ladies' Union Aid 
Society; the Freedmen's Orphans' Home Association, and the 
Soldier's Orphans' Home at Webster, the latter to raise an endow- 
ment fund; and the other associations (iu case of need), in the 



145 

continuation of tlieir work. It has also determined to establish a 
Home for the indigent and helpless widows of deceased soldiers ; 
and the balance on hand will scarcely be sufficient to meet these 
much needed charities.* 

The whole amount of cash received by the Commission for Sani- 
tary purposes, during the war, has been $770,998.55 ; and the esti- 
mated value of sanitary stores received is $3,500,000, making a total 
of over four millions and a quarter of dollars ($4,270,998.55), con- 
tributed to this Commission from private benevolence, for sanitary 
and humane objects ; and, (except the balance on hand, reserved for 
the comi^letion of its humane work) distributed by this Commission, 
as ah'eady accounted for in this report. 

Before closing this account of the work of the "Westei-n Sanitary 
Commission, the wi'iter is enabled to give a list of names of some 



* Since the foregoing report was written, while it has been going through the press, the 
Soldiers' Orphans' Home, at Webster, has reverted to the Commission, by the resignation 
of the first Board Of Trustees and Board of Lady Managers ; and, by an act of the Legisla- 
ture, passed at its late session, a new Board of Trustees has been created, consisting of the 
members of the Commission, with the addition of two other gentlemen, as follows : James 
E. Yeatmax, C. S. Greeley, J. B. Johxson, M. D., George Partridge, Wm. G. 
Eliot, D. D., E. AV. Fox, and T. B. Edgar. On the organization of this Board James 
E. YEATMA2J was elected its President, and T. B. Edgar its Secretary and Treasurer. 

Since this organization was eftected the Commission has appropriated $25,000 for the 
future maintenance of the Home, which, added to the $5,000 a year for ten years ($50,000), 
appropriated by the State Legislature, and to the $20,000 subscribed by individuals as 
an endowment, and placed at interest, secures the future usefulness of the institution, 
which is already accompUshing so much good for the destitute orphans of deceased soldiers 
of the republic. The new buildings, already referred to in the body of this report, are now 
completed (April 15th), and will be ready for occupancy on the 1st of May, making the 
entire accommodations of the Home sufficient for one hundred and sixty orphans. 

The Soulier's Home of St. Louis has been continued the present winter (18G6), and will 
be closed on the 1st of May. Arrangements have been made to continue the care, beyond 
that date, of some twenty-five disabled, indigent, discharged soldiers, for whom the mili- 
tary authority has recently set apart quarters at Jeflerson Barracks, at the request of the 
Commission; leaving it, however, to meet the other expenses of their support, until the 
General Government shall make further provision tor such cases. 

The Commission has likewise employed Mrs. S. A. Plummer and Miss N. A. Shepard 
as Belief Visitors to the families of invalid and disabled soldiers, through whom it has, and 
wiU continue, to extend relief to this class of suft'erers by the war. The labors of these 
noble women have proved very useful in this work, and they have carried, not only physi- 
cal aid, but often spiritual comfort (of an unsectarian kind), to many sad homes. 

Such are some of the ways in which the Commission is expending the balance of funds 
left on hand, .and with which it proposes to do good, until the last dollar is faithfully ex- 
pended, according to the intentions and wishes of its generous contributors. 
K 



146 

of the generous contributors, who, duriug- the progress of the great 
civil war, sustained its labors, and furnished it with the means of 
usefulness. It would be gratifying, if i)0ssible, to include the 
names of all, in every part of the country, who contributed to its 
resources, but to do so would increase this publication to several 
volumes ; and, besides, the record of many of them is with the 
local Soldier's Aid Societies, and not with the Commission. Of 
only two cities are we able to furnish even a partial list of 
our contributors ; namely, Boston and St. Louis. 

The noble generosity of Boston towards the Western Sanitary 
Commission during the entire existence of the war, furnishes a 
remarkable instance of disinterested benevolence, as not one 
dollar of all the contributions given from that city was likely 
to benefit the soldiers that Massachusetts had sent to the field. 
Besides the money given for the Western troops, the sanitary arti- 
cles sent were of the most valuable kind. In one instance, a New 
England lady, Mrs. Thomas Lamb, set apart a room in her house 
as the " Missouri Koom," and letting all her friends know of this 
convenient method of sending articles to St. Louis, as fast as 
boxes could be filled, she received and forwarded goods to the 
value of $17,000, and in cash nearly as much more. In the win- 
ter of 1863, a number of gentlemen got up a contribution of 
$35,000 in money, and forwarded it, through R. C. Gkeenleaf, as 
Treasurer, to the Commission at St. Louis ; and these are men- 
tioned now only as instances of the liberality of Boston, and the 
other towns and cities of New England, towards the work of the 
Western Sanitary Commission. It is found impossible to give the 
names of all the generous contributors, who, in New England and 
the other loyal sections of the Union, sent aid to this Commission; 
but finding the names of the Boston contributors of the special 
donation of $35,000, in January, 1863, in a recent volume entitled 
" The Tribute Book," published by Derby & Co., of N. Y., they 



147 

are inserted here as an additional acknowledgment of their noble 
generosity. The list of honored names is as follows : J. C. 
Howe & Co.; Gov. Andrew (from private funds placed in his 
hands), and Mrs. N. I. Bowditch, each $1,000; Wm. Sturgis, $800; 
C. F. Hovey & Co., J. M. Forbes, J. M. Beebe & Co., Gardner 
Colby, Daniel Denny, Jfaylor & Co., Nathaniel Thayer, David 
Sears, F. Skinner & Co., each $500 ; Nathaniel Francis, Moses 
"Williams, Oakes Ames & Son, lasigi, Goddard & Co., each $300; 
James Lawrence, P. C. Brooks, Martin Brimmer, Faulkner, Kim- 
ball & Co., J. L. Little & Co., Jordan, Marsh & Co., Joel Hayden, 
Hon. Samuel Hooper, H. P. Kidder, G. Howlaud Shaw, Albert 
Fearing, each $250 ; D. N. Spooner, J. Huntington Wolcott, Wm. 
Amory, J. L. Gardner, W. Ropes & Co., Gardner Brewer, Sprague, 
Soule & Co., George Howe, T. Mandell, Miss M. A. Wales, C. 
W. Cartright, Foster & Taylor, each $200 ; W. F. Weld & Co., 
Samuel Johnson, John C. Dalton, each $150 ; Chandler & Co., W. 
P. Pierce, W. S. Bullard, C. A. Babcock, Theodore Matchett 
(Brighton), W. B. Spooner, Sewell, Day & Co., H. H. Hun- 
newell, W. H. Gardner, G. M. Barnard, J. M. Barnard, Jas. 
McGregor, Miss J. Mason, Jacob Bigelow, Jas. Parker, Miss Abba 
Loring, Abbott Lawi'ence, W. W. Churchill, Little, Brown & Co., 
T. Jefferson Coolidge, J. S. Farlow, Mrs. Heard (Watertown), Dr. 
Geo. Hayward, Oliver Ditson, R. W. Hooper, Mrs. C. Hooper, 
Miss E. Hooper, Bigelow Brothers & Kennard, Miss C. M. Adams, 
Charles Amory, J. G. Gushing, H. P. Sturgis, Wm. Parsons, B. 
F. Reed, Almy, Patterson & Co., Hogg, Brown & Taylor, Burrage 
Brothers & Co., John Borland, Geo. W. Wales, Otis, Daniel & 
Co., Grant, Warren & Co., " A Friend," A. Claflin & Co., W. Claf- 
lin & Co., Joshua Stetson, Joseph S. Fay, A. Wilkinson, Mrs. 
Sally Blake, Thaddeus Nichols, Augustus Lowell, Charles G. Lo- 
ring, Israel Whitney, Benj. Burgess, W. Perkins, '^Friend" (in AYind- 
sor Locks, Conn.), J. W. Brooks, Mrs. S. Wheelwright, John A. 



148 

Blauchard, Elisha Atkins, Nash, Spalding & Co., Glidden & Wil- 
liams, Samuel Cabot, George P. Upham, John Duff, Quincy Shaw, 
"William Hilton & Co., Wilson, Hamilton & Co., Mudge, Sawyer 
& Co., Jas. Haughton, J. Field, Alpheus Hardy, Geo. S. Holmes, 
W. T. Andrews, Ellis, Newell & Co., Mrs. L. B. Merriam, H. F. 
Durant, P. B. Brigham, B. S. Kotch, W. P. Mason, Burr Broth- 
ers & Co., jMiss Sarah B. Pratt, Parker, Wilder & Co., John 
Gardner, MVm. Bramliall, J. R. Hall, W. D. Pickman, John Ber- 
tram, Richard S. Rogers, Francis Peabody, George Peabody, John 
C. Lee (last six of Salem), Wm. Monroe, Anderson, Sargent & 
Co., John H. Reed, A. G. Farwell & Co., Samuel A. Way, C. P. 
Curtis, Joseph Dix & Co., B. W. Williams, Ladies of Fitchburg, 
£. R. Mudge, Henry Callender, P. C. Brooks, Mrs. John Heard, 
Sewall, Day & Co., Margaret B. Blanchard (Harvard), H. P. 
Kidder, Joseph B. Glover, each $100 ; George W. Colburn, John 
Homans, M. D., John Felt Osgood, each $75 ; J. C. Hoadley (New 
Bedford), Geo. Bemis, Rev. F. A. Whitney (Brighton), George H. 
Kuhn, Geo. S. Winslow, Francis Bacon, C. H. Warren, W. S. 
Eaton, John C. Gray, E. L. Perkins, Mrs. James McGregor, Chas. 
t. Ware, N. C. Keep, M. D., G. D. Wells, John Simmons, Burr, 
Brown & Co., Geo. C. Shattuck, Mrs. N. Hoopei-, Miss M. I. 
Hooper, S. T. Morse, J. S. Amory, Geo. A. Gardner, Josiah 
Quincy, Isaac Thatcher, Jas. Davis, J. Amory Davis, Franklin 
Haven, G. W. Lyman, F. H. Story, Fisher & Chapin, Sidney 
Bartlett, P. T. Jackson, Geo. B. Emerson, Amos W. Stetson, Lydia 
Jackson, C. W. Loring, Potter, Nute, White & Bayley, Jas. Hay- 
ward, Smith Brothers & Co., Mrs. A, I. Hall, F. S. Nichols, Jo- 
seph Simes, Isaac Sweetser, Henry Lee, Geo. B. Gary, E. A. Board- 
man, Frothingham & Co., W. W. Tucker, C. C. Chadwick, Wright 
& Whitman, Claflin, Saville & Co., May & Co., Horatio Harris, 
Edward Atkinson, J. B. Glover, H. S. Richardson, Josiah Stick- 
ney, E. D. Peters & Co., Stephen Tilton & Co., J. H. Beal, Mar 



149 

shall Keyes, Aaron D. Weld, N. Harris, Robert Brookhouse, Mrs. 
Henry D. Cole, Mrs. C. Saltoustall, Mrs. Lucy B. Johnson, Z. F. 
Silsbee, J. S. Cabot, L. B. Harrington, Miss Hannah Hodges (the 
last eight of Salem), E. S. Eand (Newburyport) , J. C. Tyler & 
Co., E. S. Rand, J. L. Gardner, jr., Thomas E. Cushing, Henry 
Upham, Charles Stoddard, N. Boynton, E. Williams & Co., Plu- 
mer & Co., Eice & Davis, Faxon Brothers, John Jeffries, jr., 
Hart, Baldwin & Boutume, Augustus Story (Salem), Henry Cal- 
lender, Mrs. Chas. F. Hovey, A. A. Lawrence, Wm. Bellamy, 
Henry A. P. Carter, Miss Loring, Joseph H. Thayer, Wm. B. 
Spooner, James Parker, Emily M. Adams, George S. "Winslow, 
Thomas Bulfinch, E. L. Perkins, Mrs. Samuel Hall, jr., Col. J. 
W. Seaver, Mrs. John Heard (hospital stores), Thomas J. Lee, 
Miss Richardson, each $50; J. Randolph Coolidge, Williams & 
Everett (proceeds of exhibition), Joseph Greeley, J. F. Edmands, 
C. H. Cummings, Samuel Gould, A. B. Almond (Salem), Shi-eve, 
Stanwood & Co., IVIrs. John C. Dalton, Mi-s. W. H. Goodwin, 
Robt. C. Winthrop, J. D. Farnsworth, Waldo Higginson, Geo. W. 
Tilden, E. Townsend, Silas Potter, F. A. Hawley & Co., Josiah 
Quinc}', jr.. Misses Quincy, Alex. Strong & Co., John Ware, John* 
Cummings, jr., Charles Choate, James Maguire, Wm. H. Dunbar, 
Stone, Wood & Co., Eastman, Fellows & Weeks, Edward Craft, 
Amos Cummings, J. C. Converse & Co., Maguire & Campbell, 
Tappan, McBurney & Co., H. Montgomery, Rev. C. A. Bartol, 
Mrs. M. R. Wendell, C. O. Whitmore, C. C. Gilbert, Palmer & 
Bachelder, E. M. Welch, Mrs. Welch, Mrs. Louisa Peabody, Mrs. 
C. G. Loring, Baldwin & Curry, Mrs. O. W. Holmes, J. S. 
Lovering, Mrs. F. A. Sawyer, Franklin Evans, Ripley Ropes, Jacob 
A. Dresser, each from $25 to $50 ; sums under $25 given anony- 
mously, and contributions of stores, $1,726.00. This was but one 
of various contributions from Boston, acknowledgments of whicli 
have been made in previous reports, and elsewhere in these pages. 



150 

Besides the report already given in this vohime, pp. 5-13, of the 
receipts of the Mississippi Valley Sanitary Fair, it is thought proper 
to add the names of the merchants and other citizens of St. Louis, 
who gave large sums, in cash, to inaugurate and put in successful 
operation that noble enterprise, as well as to swell its gross 
receipts. The list is from the records of this Commission and 
the books of the Treasurer of the Fair, Samuel Copp, Jr., Esq., and 
comprises the names of persons and institutions giving from $8,630 
downwards, in the following order, viz: Aggregate contributions 
of several Dry Goods Houses (names not given), $8,630; Grocei's in 
Sixth Ward (names not given), $6,350; James H. Lucas, $5,250; 
Boatmen's Savings Institution, $5,000; Merchants' Exchange $5,000; 
Belcher's Sugar Refinery, $3,500; Mutual Life Insurance Company 
of New York, by Samuel Oopp, Jr., $3,000; Government Em- 
ployees' Association, M. V. S. F., $2,844.50; State Savings Asso- 
ciation, $2,500; Donations of Public Schools, by Ira Divoll, $2,512.25; 
Henry A. Homeyer & Co., $2,300; Gaslight Company, $2,000; Mep- 
ham & Brothers, $1,750; Associated Clerks' Committee, $1,685.50; 
Northern Line of Packets, $1,600; Lyon, Shorb & Co., and Geo. D. 
Hall, $1,500; City Clerks' Association, $1,445; Keokuk Packet Com- 
pany, $1,400; Memphis Packet Company, $1,400; Henry Ames & Co., 
$1,350; L. N. Bonham, by entertainments and cash donations of 
the pupils and teachers of his Seminary, $1,283.50; Hon. Henry T. 
Blow, $1,048.14; James Archer; Grocers in Fifth Ward; Building 
and Savings Association; Francis Whittaker, Sons & Co.; Hudson 
E. Bridge; Barton Able & Co.; George Partridge & Co.; Schulen- 
berger & Boeckeler; Grafi", Bennett & Co.; McKce, Fishback & 
Co.; David Nicholson; Pratt & Fox; John J. Roe & Co.; Rich- 
ardson & Co.; St. Louis and Iron Mountain Railroad Co.; New 
York Life Insurance Co., by E. Morrison, each $1,000; Employees in 
Quartermaster's Department, by Capt. E. "D. Chapman; Illinois River 
Packet Company; Robinson & Howe's Circus; Chicago and Alton 



151 

Railroad ; Ladies' Association of Tenth Ward (proceeds of ball) ; 
Committee of Ladies of Seventh and Eighth Wards (proceeds of 
ball) ; Hayden & Wilson ; Giles F. Filley ; Reformed Presbyterian 
Church, by Rev. Mr. McCracken, pastor; Butcher's Association 
(proceeds of five head of cattle) ; Employees of Mon-ison Hall ; 
Horace Holtou; St. Louis Union Association; J. D. Stanbridge; 
Employees of Captain Wallace; D. A. January and others; Rev. 
Wm. G. Eliot, D. D. (from Boston friends); Allen, Copp & Nesbit; 
Crow, McCreery & Co. ; Bridge, Beach & Co. ; Capt. Jos. Brown ; E. 
H. Smith ; Lumbermen and Mechanics' Insurance Company ; Lamb & 
Quinlin ; St. Louis Agency of Manhattan Life Insurance Company ; 
Adolphus Meier & Co. ; Marj^ Institute (proceeds of concert of 
scholars); A. S. Merritt; North Missouri Railroad Company; North 
St. Louis Savings Association; Second National Bank; Third 
National Bank; John O'Fallon; Phoenix Insurance Company; Pike 
& Kellogg; Pacific Railroad Company; J. B. Sickles; N. Schaeffer 
& Co.; St. Louis Insurance Company; A. F. Shapleigh & Co.; 
J. B. Sickles & Co.; Stanard, Gilbert & Co.; Tunstall & Holme; 
United States Insurance Company; United States Savings Institu- 
tion; Wiggins Ferry Company, by H. L. Clark, Secretary; Wm. 
Young & Co. ; Young Brothers & Co. ; Boatmen's Insurance and 
Trust Compciny; Crozier & Baxter; Citizen's Insurance Company; 
Chouteau, Ilai-rison & Valle; James Clark & Co.; Franklin Savings 
Institution; Franklin Insurance Company; Reformed Presbyterian 
Church ; Home Mutual Insurance Company ; McCord, Sanger & Steel, 
each from $953.50 to $500 inclusive: Collection in Pi'ivate Schools; 
Government Employees' Association, by H. H. Wernse ; Seventh Cav- 
alry M.S. M.; John G. Copelin; Dgagett & Moi-se ; Students of City 
University ; Samuel Gaty ; W. M. Morrison ; Employees on track 
of eastern division of Pacific Railroad and Southwest Branch; 
Wm. D'Oench; Employees of Ubsdell, Barr, Duncan & Co.; Fritz, 
Leysalt & Bennett; Warne, Cheever & Co.; Collier Lead 



152 

Company; Gaylord, Sons & Co.; D wight Durkee; Great Republic 
Insurance Company; W. Chauvenet, Cliaucellor of Washington 
University (donation from students); Hillman Brothers; Marine 
Insurance Company; Ticknor & Co.; Harmonia Glee Club; Samuel 
C. Davis; Joseph Gartside and 149 employees; Henry Martin; 
Employees of Pacific Railroad; Pupils of Missouri Institute for 
the Blind (proceeds of a concert); Jameson, Cotting & Co; Levi 
Ashbrook & Co.; Atlantic Insurance Company; M. Creesy & Co.; 
Chapman & Thorp; Citizens Railroad Company, by A. R. Easton; 
Dutcher & Co.; R. & J. B. Fenby; First National Bank; Globe 
Mutual Insurance Company; Samuel H. Gardiner ; Hening & 
Woodruff ; Howe & Capen, N. Y. Insurance Company ; Lackland 
& Christopher; Lockwood & Wider; Ladue, Tousey & Co; 
Merchants' Bank ; John S. McCune ; People's Savings Institution ; 
Pacific Insurance Co. ; Real Estate Savings Institution ; St. Louis 
Railroad Co.; L. and C. Speck & Co.; Steamboat Hope; Tyler, 
Davidson & Co. ; Ubsddl, Barr, Duncan & Co. ; Union Insurance 
Company; R. P. Studley & Co.; Grocers in First Ward; Grocers 
in Seventh Ward ; Several Dealers in Stoves and Tinware ; 
Cloth and Clothing Committee ; Employees of Sectional Dock Com- 
pany ; Twelve Groves of the Ancient Order of Druids ; Marshall 
& Kilpatrick ; First Regiment Enrolled Missouri State Militia, 
Colonel Fenn ; Francis Whittaker & Co. ; Asa Wilgus ; AVm. Young 
& Co., each from $455.70 to $250 inclusive: Employees of Goodwin, 
Anderson & Co, ; Bakers' Committee (collection from the trade) ; 
Journeyman Horse Collar Makers; Mr. Barr and others; G. Bayha 
& Co. ; Chas. Beardslee & Brother ; F. B. Chamberlain & Co. ; 
J. F. Comstock & Co. ; Continental Packet Company ; Nathan Col- 
man; Grocers in the Eighth Ward; Colonel and Mrs. Dick; L. 
D. Dameron; Samuel Gaty; Charles Holmes; A. C. Hofiiiian (by 
will); William Jessup & Sons; H. N. Kendall & Co.; McKay 
& Hood; Naples Packet Company; Colonel John O'Fallon; 



153 

J. & W. Patrick; H. O. Pearce & Co.; Albert Pearce; steamboat 
John J. Roe aud owners ; steamboat Pauline Carroll ; steamboat 
J. H. Dickey; Alton Packet Co.; Levi H. Baker; steamboats Wel- 
come, Imperial, Louisville, Maria Denning, Glasgow, Tatan, Levia- 
than, "\V. K, Arthur, Julia, Henry Ames, J. E. Swan, City of 
Memi)his, Stephen Decatur, Colorado, J. II. Lacej^, Continental, 
IJmma, Omaha, Empress, Edward Walsh, New Iowa, Olive Branch, 
(each $200) ; John Tilden ; Officers and men of steamboat Fisher ; 
Government Employees at Benton Barracks ; Marine Committee ; 
Z. F. Wetzell & Co.; Hiram Crittenden, each from $245.50 
to $200 inclusive: R. A. Barnes; Miss Emily Shaw (from Read- 
ings aud Tableaux); Mrs. Puroget; Rev. W. H. Corkhill (from 
Tableaux at Benton Barracks); G. Walbrecht; Mary Institute (for 
Readings by J. J. Bailey) ; D. A. January; G. Bummermaunt & Co. ; 
Peter E. Blow ; Buddecke & Drooge ; Wm. Glasgow, Jr. ; Saint 
Peters' Church (for Children's Pic-uic) ; A. W. Howe, Agent New 
York Insurance Companies; Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
pany; C. & R. IMichelman; Colonel James Peckham; Tesson 
& Danjen; Young Brothers; Stokes & Sheets; Employees of 
Wiggins' Ferry Company; Evangelical Protestant Church of 
Emanuel; A. W. Fagin; A. S. Merritt; South M. E. Church, by 
Levi H. Baker; Mr. Rossfeldt, for St. Louis Vocal Association; 
Merchants' Exchange; Moody, Michel & Co.; Mission Free School; 
Sterling & Co.; Berthold & Thompson; C. I. Filley; Ladies' Union 
League; German Evangelical Lutheran Church; Robert Charles; 
Joseph Garneau; Spurry, Chalfant & Co.; St. Louis Lodge No. 5, 
I. O. O. F.; Schuetze & Eggers; John A. Smithers & Brother; 
C. F. Schultz & Brother; Shamrock Benevolent Society; Steam 
Boiler Makers' Association ; John R. Shepley ; James T. Sweringeu 
and wife; G. & W. Todd & Co.; Miss Mary Thomas; D. S. 
Thompson ; W. F. Ulman ; John C. Vogel ; White & Haas ; Cap- 
tain Daniel White; Wilson & Atwell; J. Weil & Brother; Wash- 



, 154 

ington Lodge No. 24, I. O. O. F.; B. D. Whittaker; ^YMey 
Lodge No. 2, I. O. O. F.; George H. Wiley & Co.; Westerinan 
& Meier; Samuel B. Wiggins; W. S. Gilman; Gay, Hanen- 
kamp & Edwards; Greeley & Gale; Goodwin & Anderson; 
E. Gaylord & Sons; Louis Gamier; Cheltenham Fire Brick AYorks, 
by Evans & Howard ; Gymnastic Society ; John H. Gay ; Gill & Bro- 
ther; John How; C. B. Hubbell & Co.; J. Howard; Hibernian 
Society; Haikemeyer & Finney; Heinicke & Estel ; Britton A. Hill; 
E. C. Harrington, for Government Employees' Association; D. A. 
January & Co.; Jacoby & Eckert ; Mr. James, for Iron Works; 
Jefferson Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; Jameson & Mantz ; Jona- 
than Jones ; Capt. W. J. Kountz ; Wm. Klampe ; Wm. Dean & Co. : 
Dunham & Gregg; Druid's Hall Association, by Franz Michen; 
John F. Darby; Arnold, Constable & Co.; B. & D. Able; John 
C. Dervalal; Capt. J. B. Eads;"Wm. L. Ewing & Co.; Employees 
in Laclede Eolling Mills; Excelsior Fire and Marine Insurance Com- 
pany; S. M. Edgell; Joseph Emanuel & Co.; Eighth Street Bap- 
tist Church (colored) ; Excelsior Lodge No. 18, I. O. O. F. ; J. E. 
Esher, Bowery Theatre (proceeds of one night's entertainment) ; Gen. 
C. B. risk; Fiske, Knight & Co.; O. D. Filley; E. A. & S. K. 
Filley; M. Foster; Fritchie & Co.; R. D. Feuby; Glasgow & 
Brother ; Henry Bell & Son ; L. A Benoist & Co. ; J. H. Bowen 
& Co.; Mrs. Sarah B. Brant; Battery K, First Missouri Light 
Artillery; Bush & Hawthorne; John Baker; Beard & Brother; 
Mrs. Bruescke; R. Campbell & Co.; Cavender & Rowse; Cabot 
& Senter; John B. Carson; E. A. Corbet; P. Chouteau, Jr. & 
Co. ; Cupples & Marston ; Commercial Insurance Company ; Geo. 
Conzleman; F. J. Chapman; Mrs. Jane Chambers; City Tobacco 
Warehouse ; J. R. Clark (proceeds of donation in cotton) ; Munroe 
R. Collins; Alex. Crozier; Luther M. Kennett; Samuel Knox; S. 
H. Laflin; T. H. Larkiu & Co.; H. L Loring & Co.; L. Lev- 
ering & Co.; Louis A. Labaume; Ladies' branch of Shoemakers' 



155 

Society; Wm. C. Liudell; E. M. Moffltt; Mrs. Virginia Miner; 
Murdock & Dickson; Mason & Clements; W. H. Markham; "Wm. 
N. Macqueen; Tlioruton D. Murphy; Company H, National Guards; 
Augustus McDowell; Mound City Mutual Insurance Company; 
Morean & May; Wm. H. Maurice; Nelson & Merriman; Nolan 
& Caffrey; A. K. Northrup; R. H. Ober & Co.; "Owl Club;" 
L. W. Patchen; Peterson, Hanthorne & Co.; W. H. Pulsifer; 
People's Railroad Co.; German Theatrical Company; Rich & Co.; 
Richardson & Co.; Eben Richards; Eben Richards, Jr.; George 
H. Rea; John H. Rankin; Christian Peper; Col. George G. Pride; 
Pomeroy & Benton; James Smith; A. F. Shapleigh ; A. O. Smith; 
A. F. Shapleigh & Co.; Stillwell, Powell & Co.; St. Louis Shot 
Tower Company; Savings Association, Eighth Ward; Joseph O'Neil; 
J. M. Crawford ; Employees at National Iron Works ; Grocers in 
Tenth Ward ; Illinois River Pilots' Benevolent Association ; Graham 
& Brother ; M. S. Holmes ; J. R. Williams ; Richard Howard ; J. 
T. Dowdall; Mrs. Col. John O'Fallon ; Bayle & Righter; Collins 
& Holliday ; D. B. Thayer ; Four Lodges of Ancient Order of Good 
Fellows ; Theophile Papin ; Peter L. Foy and Employees in Post 
Office ; Roman Catholic Total Abstinence and Benevolent Society ; Mil- 
lers' Committee ; F. E. Schmieding & Co., each from $195 to $100 inclu- 
sive; Young Ladies' Union Aid Society, by Mrs. Emma Wright; Por- 
ter & Wolf; Meridian Lodge A. F. and A. M. ; Officers and Em- 
ployees of Gratiot Street Prison ; Collection by Capt. Holloway ; 
Saint Louis Gas Works, by Thos. Pratt, Superintendent; F. C. 
Liebke ; E. H. Jameson (proceeds of lecture) ; Missouri Enrolled 
Militia, 11th Reg't, Co. D. ; Rohrer's Commercial College ; Mense, 
Rashcoe & Co. ; Haywood, Carr & Co. ; Wm. Baxter ; Hermann 
Fiefenbrunn ; Julius Morisse ; Rubelmann & Brother ; Herman H. 
Meier ; F. A. Kanstiener ; Henry Kuhleman ; Hynson & Coleman ; 
Ernst, Witte & Co. ; S. Kehrman ; F. W. Cronenbold ; Jno. Lewis ; 
A. W. Mead; Collection by Chas. R. Anderson; Missouri Wreck- 



156 

ing Company ; Grocers of Third Ward ; Mrs. Stephen Ridgel)' ; N. 
W. Perkins ; Jacob Eiseck ; Bertram & Meirseick ; Alex. Largue ; 
Pride of tlie West Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; W. C. Whittingham ; Col- 
lection in Third Ward ; Collection iu Ninth AYard ; Ladies at 
Benton BaiTacks (proceeds of exhibition^ , Napthali Lodge A. F. and 
A. M. ; Excelsior Lodge No. 18, I. O. O. F. ; Prisoners of 
Myrtle Street U. S. Prison; Grocers in Fourth Ward; Gro- 
cers in Ninth Ward ; Employees of J. Hale, Boot and Shoe 
Manufacturer; Dr. E. B. Smith; Peter Weisenecker ; First German 
Methodist Episcopal Church ; Beck & Corbett ; German Evangelical 
Church; Wingenund Lodge No. 27, I. O. O. F. ; Dr. T. G. Corn- 
stock ; Saloon Keepers' Association ; Bellefontaine Lodge No. 73, I. 
O. O. F. ; J. B. Gates & Co. ; A. Vansyckel & Co. ; James Reil- 
ley ; McKee & Hill ; F. S. Behrens & Co. ; M. C. Teasdale ; 
Ilolsman & Merritt ; Wm. Dwyer; Wilson & Nichols; Goethe 
Lodge No. 69, I. O. O. F. ; J. F. Forsey; Mrs. Geo. P. Strong; 
Thomas Laird ; Miss Goddard ; Mrs. J. C. McGinnis ; Mrs. Fales ; 
Rev. Geo. Anderson (proceeds of exhibition at Benton Barracks) ; 
Employees of Robert W. Mitchell ; Employees of Theodore Sa- 
lorgne ; Employees of Robert Dougherty & Brother ; Emx^loyecs of 
Wesley Fallon (carriage makers) ; Chas. Buck ; Thomas E. Tutt ; 
J. L. Harris, from German private school ; Golden Rule Lodge No. 
109, I. O. O. F. ; Committee Italian Fruit Dealers ; Samuel Cup- 
pies ; J. H. Oglesby ; J. Lindley ; Nathaniel D. Noyes ; Barbers' 
Benevolent Society ; Committee on Cloths, Clothing, &c. ; German 
Evangelical Lutheran Church ; T. T. Gantt ; J. T. Sweringen ; Zion 
School of German Lutheran Church; Geo. H. Loker & Brother; 
Ellsworth Smith, M. D. ; Dr. E. McGintie ; Thomas Scholey and 
workmen ; John Bui'kbeck ; Alter & Clark ; Tucker & Greer ; Ja- 
cob Felber & Co.; Oliver L. Garrison; A. Button; F. Gelfort; 
Hamilton & Mannion ; Kerwiu & Williams ; German Evangelical 
Lutheran Church ; Employees of Belcher's Sugar Refinery ; Teich- 



157 

man & Co. ; J. B. Ferguson & Co. ; E. Bellamy ; J. H. Teas- 
dale ; Sherwood & Karnes ; Perry & Scheuk ; Smith & Underbill ; 
Oscar K. Lyle ; W. 11. Heinrichshofen ; Moses G. Pottle ; Morris, 
Peters & Co.; Fisse, Ewald & Co.; Wahl & Carpenter; Bushey 
& Drucker ; H. J. Hawley ; Wattenburg, Bush & Co. ; S. Virden ; 
Mott & Heed ; Louis Lemcke ; E. P. Clarke ; Eben McNeal ; M. I. 
Stedman ; Chas. Peteler ; B. 11, Newell ; Jocbum & Co. ; F. "W. 
Rosenthal ; Singer & Weinzettell ; Mrs. Sai'ah S. Rich (collection) ; 
Miss Brawner ; J. W. Holmes ; Stone & Duryee ; E. W. Leeds ; 
Philip Gruner, Jr. ; P. H. Kelly & Co. ; Hoeker & Henglesberg ; 
Wm. Morrison ; D. T. Wright & Co. ; Wilkinson & Bryan ; Ferd. 
Kennett & Co. ; John Meyer ; Richard Schulenberg ; Chas. Boswell ; 
James Lntby & Co.; Andrews & Mcllvaine ; John Andrews; J. 
D. Leonard; Wilson & Smith, S. S. Carr; J. M. Patterson; H. 
W. Beldsmeyer & Co. ; S. C. Richards ; Leonard Ansley ; W. Hun- 
nicke ; G. Waltman ; Bauer & Bohl ; Bemis & Brown ; F. W. 
Aufderhide ; S. Jacoby; B. F. Shirwer & Co.; Sturgis & Co.; 
Enno Sander; Leitch & Corlics ; E. L. Massot; Theo. Kalb ; F. 
W. Sennewald ; A. T. HoUister ; M. Brotherton ; German Evan- 
gelical Church; St. Joseph's Parochial Boys' School; Draymen and 
Wagoners ; Providence Presbyterian Church ; Employees of J. A. 
Smithers & Brother; Evangelical Protestant Congregation of the 
Church of the Holy Ghost; Mrs. N. Van Bei-gen ; Stacy & Stone; 
John H. Fisse ; John T. Schuricht ; Bernhardt Altscheel ; William 
SIchcr ; Hof & Blassins ; H. H. Strobeck ; Jacob Emanuel ; C. 
Lange ; C. A. Hammerstein ; Henry Bierderstein ; Rubsam & Hesse ; 
Wm. C. Jamison ; First Baptist Church (colored) ; J. D. Heimor- 
dez ; Workmen of M. V. S. F. Building ; Howe & Capen ; A. W. 
Howe ; Employees in Plant's Mill ; St. Mark's Evangelical German 
Church ; Dr. John T. Hodgen ; St. George Episcopal Church ; 
Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church ; Men's Branch Boot and Shoe 
Making Society ; Collection by Samuel Houston ; Morning Star and 



158 

Excelsior B. B. Clubs ; Employees of Goodwin & Anderson ; S. K. 
Fox; James L. Benson; Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society (colored); J. 
E. Shanghan ; Mr. Gruber's School ; Travelers' Eest Lodge No. 1, 
I. O. O. F. ; Snow & Helgenberg ; Dr. Chas. I. Carpenter ; Jas. 
Coff ; Samuel W. Eager ; Josiah C. Brown and wife ; R. J. Rom- 
bauer ; Byan Cross ; Missouri Lodge No. 2, Bohemian Benevolent 
Society ; Employees of Kingsland & Ferguson's Foundry ; Provision 
Committee ; Prange & Brother ; Heller & Hoffman ; Conrades & 
Longeman; G. & L. Yollmer; Missouri Lodge No. 11, I. O. O. F.; 
Pupils of St. Joseph Parochial School ; Pupils of St. Louis Pai'o- 
chial School ; Aaron Blake ; W. A. Jones ; M. Westerman ; C. W. 
Spalding ; Henry Barron ; Isaiah Forbes ; W. H. Fames ; Isaac 
Comstock ; Edwai-d Hale ; L. I. Brackett ; Miss Eliza A. Wright ; 
Miss Martha C. Wright ; Wm. Brenton Boggs ; Anthon Memmin- 
ger ; Edward Trabue ; Louis Schneider ; T. H. Chadwell ; Irwin 
Z. Smith ; Henry Hitchcock ; John M. Krura ; John D. Coalter ; 
N. McDowell ; Sharp & Broadhead ; James Taussig ; R. Kellar ; 
A. D. Sloan; M. Wright; A. Dienst; G. W. Frauernicht ; Wm. 
N. Morrison ; C. W. Gill ; H. Judde ; Excelsior Lodge No. 18, I. 
O. O. F. ; Christian Church ; McCutcheon & Williams ; John Bi-ig- 
ham ; A. M. Leslie ; Company D, National Guards ; Jacob L. Mer- 
ritt ; St. Louis Telegraph Office ; Samuel Reber ; Ernst W. Decker ; 
L. Babcock ; Joseph Jecko ; E. R. Bates ; Henry A. Clover ; Wm. 
Bliss Clark; Warren Currier; A. M. Gardner; James K. Knight; 
Nathaniel Holmes; Samuel M. Breckinridge; A. J. P. Garesche; 
E. Sherman ; John N. Straat ; Willard & Co. ; C. H. Bell ; R. 
Ulrici ; N. H. Clark ; Wm. Glasgow ; S. Levison ; A. F. Meyers ; 
D. L. Davidson ; M. Strauss & Co. ; P. II. Jones ; F. A. Durgin ; 
Pupils of the Union High School ; M. I. De Franca ; Albert Fege ; 
Horse Shoers in Sixth Ward ; AVm. Bosbyshell (collection) ; Mr. 
Holledge (collection) ; J. McKittrick & Co. ; Mrs. Penelope Allen ; 
each sums varying from $75 to $25, with a few $10 subscriptions. 



159 

Besides these contributions, in cash, from the citizens of Saint 
Louis, many of the same contributors gave largely and generously 
in goods to the Fair; the Common Council also appropriated 
$20,000 towards the same object ; and the- St. Louis County Court 
made a gift of the Smizcr Farm, which realized $40,000. 

The whole contribution in cash amounted to $200,000, and having 
been included in the Financial Report of the Fair, as given on pages 
5-13 of this work, is there accounted for, in the general receipts 
and expenses of the enterprise. 

In concluding tliis Final Report of its history and labors, the 
Western Sanitary Commission desires to give thanks to all its 
friends and contributors in the loyal States, — to the noble men 
and women of the East, and North, and West, who have so gen- 
erously aided and sustained it during the war, and enabled it to 
perform a great and good work for the cause of American patri- 
otism, civilization, and liberty. Hundreds of thousands, whom it 
cannot name, but whose generous spirit is felt and recognized, 
have, from all parts of the country that remained true to the 
Union, stretched forth their hands to strengthen it, and by their 
generous benefactions, have grasped the hands of their brothers in 
arms, bade them be of good cheer, and invoked God's blessing upon 
their righteous cause. 

Now that the day of victory and peace has come, for which so 
many heroes and patriots — from the martyred President of the nation 
to tlie private soldier Avho lies in an unknown grave — have sacrificed 
their lives, the Commission gives thanks to the Sovereign Ruler 
and Disposer of events for the successful termination of the war, 
and the establishment of our Union and liberties on the basis of 
justice and universal freedom, — a consummation to which its mem- 
bers, for more than four years, have given their hearts and hands, 
their hopes and prayers. 

BY ORDER OF THE COMMISSION: 

.J. G. FORMAN, 

Secretary. 



